Takes One to Know One
by Foxieglove
Summary: The Brotherhood accepts a long overdue invitation to join the X-men. For all of them, it means changes. For Todd, it means the biggest change of all.
1. Chapter 1

Wasn't a damn thing worse than moving, Todd thought. He struggled to shove aside one of Pietro's boxes, feet braced against the Jeep's door for balance. The one Wanda had specified was somewhere under it, crammed insensitively by her brother to make way for his junk. He managed to wiggle it out, sending the boxes precariously perched on top crashing toward the front seat. Ignoring the mess Todd hopped down and made his way back toward the mansion.

He paused only to readjust his grip on the box and to make a face at the building. The X-men had opened their doors to them all in light of the recent increase of hate-crimes towards mutants. Not that they weren't grateful for the invitation. Still, that it had taken an almost emergency situation to consider opening their sanctuary to the Brotherhood, wasn't lost on the five of them. Todd suspected it had less to do with putting history behind them and more to do with having a lot of extra rooms left over after parents had yanked their kids out of Xavier's school.

Lance had been alright with the idea, for the obvious reason. Started with a 'K' and rhymed with 'titty'. Fred was partial to the idea, and Todd was the first to mention how _not there _Magneto had been the past few months - surprise, surprise.

He'd spoken without thinking, something he was unfortunately apt to do. That little gem had earned him a glower of pure ice from Wanda, something worse than anything Pietro had to throw at him. Sometimes he forgot she didn't hate her father anymore. And it didn't change the fact that Todd did, for reasons he still couldn't tell her. That jackass had left them twice now.

Luckily, the founder of the X-men now saw them as potentially useful. Or maybe just too pitiful to watch flounder about on their own any longer. Either reason didn't sit very well with Todd. Yet for some reason, when Xavier had assured them they would be safer at the Mansion, Todd was able to believe him. Huh. Weird.

And hey, at least there was a pool here, right? Always had to look on the bright side of life. That and Wanda was letting him help carry her stuff in. She didn't seem to be as frosty toward him as she had yesterday, which was a good sign. And on a further good note -

_BAMF!_

Blue encompassed his vision, making Todd lose whatever optimistic hope he'd been about to start on next. He shrieked, losing his grip on the box and stumbling back to land on his ass. From inside the box came the ominous tinkle of broken glass. Crap. Maybe she would blame Pietro?

"Ach! Sorry!" Kurt apologized, offering a hand to him.

Todd huffed and jumped to his feet without taking it. He picked the box up again and scowled at Kurt, trying to regain some dignity. "Yo, whatsa matta wit you, fool? Tryin' to scare a guy to death?"

"No, actually, I came to do a kind deed and warn you." Kurt looked behind him furtively. "Kitty's made you all some welcome cookies."

Todd grimaced. Replace 'welcome' with the word 'doom' and it was a great deal more accurate. Even Toad couldn't keep down one of her treats, as he'd discovered to his immense woe. "A'ight, I'll steer clear of the kitchen."

"That might do you no good. She's walking around with a platter of them."

"Ugh. Yo, thanks for the heads up." Todd picked the box up and was rewarded with more broken glass noises. Cursing under his breath, he walked through the doors and headed to the staircase.

* * *

Pink. Whoever had last lived in this pristine little cell of a room had painted the walls pink. And they had left a bottle of nail polish in the dresser drawer that had leaked glittery magenta all over the bottom. Wanda had tried scratching it out with her nails, succeeding only in bending one of them back.

Now the stupid dresser was missing a drawer altogether. The remains of something wooden and vaguely rectangular were splintered over the pavement just outside her window.

Wanda was now sorting through her boxes frantically, band aid wrapped around her middle finger and cursing as she tried to find drapes or posters or something that could help hide this horrid, hellish pinkness.

Someone knocked on her door in an annoyingly upbeat fashion. "_What?_"she snapped, already knowing who it was.

"Hey, it's me, baby doll. Brought ya another box."

She gestured to a corner, not bothering to turn around. Not until she heard the sound of damaged goods.

Todd winced as he heard it too, though he'd tried to set it down carefully. Wanda's eyes were on the box, noticing how banged up it looked. "What did you do, play football with it?" she snapped, walking over to it. Todd moved aside, wisely, mind whirling for an excuse. She couldn't know that he'd dropped it or there'd be hell.

"It looked like that in the jeep, yo. Pietro just dumped everything on top of yo stuff."

"My brother owns more clothes than anything, he doesn't have anything heavy enough to - FUCK!" She pulled out a few picture frames that had shattered, glass ripping the photo underneath. Todd saw a picture of two children, white-haired and black-haired, hugging a tall, smiling woman. He had no time to determine whether she looked more like Wanda or Pietro before the picture frame and all was tossed violently into another box. Wanda kicked an empty one in her frustration, the boiling point of her temper reached.

"Those were things that belonged to my mother, you asshole!" She railed at him. Todd backed up a few steps. There was at least a decade's worth of pain in her voice. Todd remembered the look he'd been given yesterday when he had mentioned Magneto's absence. Well, fuck. He'd really put his foot in it this time, hadn't he?

"Babycakes, lookit, I'm really s-"

"Sorry? That's what you're going to say? Sorry?" Her voice was on the edge of hysteria. "I can't go back to take another picture with her, can I? I can't get another glass rose for my eleventh birthday, _can _I?"

"M'sorry, okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop it-" Todd protested, backing up. His shoulders hit the door, making it swing open further.

"So you dropped it! Very nice, you lying little shit! First you think it's funny my father's ditched us, now you're dropping the only things I have left and you're too much of a shit-eating little coward to fess up!"

"Wanda, sh-"

"I hate you!" Something exploded next to Todd's ear against the wall. All he could see was Wanda's face. And he believed it. He felt behind him for the doorknob.

"I . . . uh . . . o-okay. You know what, you're really upset so I-I'll just leave, then."

"No!" She gestured and the door slammed, nearly catching his fingers. Todd gave a little shriek, snatching his hand out of harm's way. "I want you to listen to me." Wanda's voice was trembling. She seemed unable to say whatever it was she wanted to and moved her mouth soundlessly. She swallowed, making a strangled noise, then let all her breath out in an uneven little gust.

Fuck. Oh, fuck. Was she crying? Was she about to start? Concern stirring up a hornet's nest inside him, Todd stepped forward, unable to stop himself. "Babe -"

"What the _hell _makes you think I could ever love you?" she bit out. The words stopped him cold. "Of all the pricks I've ever met, you're the most low-life, self-centered, perverted _scum bag _I've ever known! What could you ever offer me?"

Todd stared. She didn't mean it. She was just upset. "Wanda-"

"What could you ever offer me? Huh? I'll _tell _you! There's fucking _nothing_ you could give me that I want!" She yelled at him. "For fuck's sake, _look _at you! You don't bathe, you don't wash anything you wear, you fucking live in trash! You talk like a - a third-grader on dope, and you eat insects! You think I or anyone else wants to have kids who do that kind of shit too? Fuck, Toad, you're barely even human! Why would you want to pass that on to anyone!"

Wanda trailed off, her fury at the world and everyone in it having banked considerably. She said nothing more, simply stared ahead, mulling over everything that had just spewed out of her mouth as though newly contemplating what she'd actually meant. When she next looked at Todd, she was startled out of any lingering rage by the sight of how badly he was shaking.

Todd's eyes were closed as well, yellowed teeth bared as he breathed irregularly. He looked up at her, swallowing hard to clear his throat. It took him a few tries, her words still echoing cruelly in his memory.

"Y-You . . ."

_Barely even human._

"O-Okay. I-I'll . . ."

_Barely even human._

". . ."

_Barely even human._

Todd wrenched the doorknob and gratefully felt it give. He shoved it open, letting it bang against the wall and took off at a run.

Wanda watched after him mutely. For a moment, she felt a pang of regret. She'd wanted to give the little bastard a clue, not hurt him. At least not that badly. Her fingernails dug crescent tattoos into her palms and she pulled the door closed.

She'd talk to him later, when she'd fully calmed down. Right now she was probably the last person he wanted to see.


	2. Chapter 2

The sky overhead was gray, not quite dark enough to rain but enough to promise a dismal rest of the day. It was weather that had gotten stuck somewhere in between fair and foul and Todd grumbled at it, leaning forward over the jeep door to dig for his stuff.

He had only taken two boxes of stuff he thought worthwhile to take. iTwo./i And somehow they'd fallen down into the well of the car underneath everyone else's crap. He pulled his last one out and clambered down with it, and kicked the other one halfway to the front door before scooping that up beneath the other arm and going up to his assigned room. He was not going to think about anything else tonight, not going to mess up any further. Maybe in the morning he could find something to fix the picture. Maybe after that, he could start to make things up to her.

Pietro could be heard from the next room over, getting his panties all in a twist about something. Todd ignored him tiredly and squeezed between the boxes in the hallway, trying to get to his door.

"Why can't you just put him in the smaller room with Freddy?"

"Because he's Freddy, and it's the smaller room, dumbass," Lance said.

Oh. One guess who they were talking about then. Joy. Todd snorted in disgust and managed to shove the door open. It bounced against another box in the way and he nearly squished himself flat trying to get in. The walls proved to be paper-thin as Todd could hear them even clearer.

"I am totally not going share a room with stink-boy."

"He's going in _someone's_ room so suck it up," Lance said reasonably. Todd allowed himself a small grin. Good old Lance, always being fair. "But not mine," Lance quickly added. Todd's smile fell.

"I have an idea. You share the big room with both of them and I get the small room."

"Okay, well, here's what I think of your idea." There was a meaty thwack and Pietro yelped.

"Hey, no fair, Alvers! I can't even dodge you – the room's crowded with all your shit!"

"That's the whole _point_, moron!"

"I'm not sharing a small room with you either. You'll probably molest me in my sleep or something," Pietro snapped.

"Ugh. I'd sooner molest _Toad_, you hair-brained fag."

"Shut up," Todd muttered, feeling in his jeans pocket. He couldn't find his knife. He growled and looked for a pair of scissors, a pen, anything to get through the stupid scotch tape.

"Yeah, I bet you would," Pietro sneered. "Him and that nice long ton-" There was a sudden thump and another squeal from Maximoff. Todd had stopped what he was doing to stare incredulously at the wall.

Ooookay. He took a breath and picked up the boxes again. Okay, _screw this_. He could find another place – it was a fucking _mansion_, right? There had to be a room away from Tweedle-DeeDeeDee and Tweedle-Dumbfuck, even if it was in the fucking attic. He'd find it.

Todd walked down the hallway, kicking boxes both full and otherwise out of his way and seething. All in all, a very dignified retreat from a conversation he had never wanted to hear in his life, right up until Kurt ported in front of him again.

Kurt apologized very sincerely once Todd was done yelling and trying to find something heavy to throw at his head. Even then, he helped the boy retrieve one his boxes from where it had tumbled down a flight of stairs. The other was stuck in the chandelier. Todd was leaning out over the railing, trying to poke it loose with a broom because he was hardly going to try and snag something out of fancy glass and electrical wire with his tongue. Not with the way his luck was going lately.

"So what the hell do you want now?" he asked crossly, after he'd caught the falling parcel and reeled it in.

"Bad day?" Kurt guessed. Todd looked at him flatly in answer. "Oh. Dumb question I guess, ja? Just wanted to know if you were hungry. Ororo put some stuff out for sandwiches."

"Ain't hungry," he muttered, anger fizzling somewhat. Not that he sounded any nicer.

"Oh. Okay, well. Just an offer," Kurt backed off.

"Kurt, wait," Todd said, before he could stop himself. "Uh. Yeah, you know where there's another room in this joint?"

Kurt blinked. "I think so. But the Professor thought you'd want to all be in the same wing, so he had these cleared out for you guys –"

"Yo, I get it awright? Assigned rooms, people having to shuffle around, big fuck inconvenience. Story of our lives. So you got a room that won't be missed or somethin'? I don't care if it's got nuthin' but a broken chair in it, dawg. _Anything_. I just . . ."

Kurt was looking at him strangely. Todd's shoulders slumped, miserable and hurting. _Keep it together, boy_, he told himself and let out a sigh.

"I just need some space right now. Away from the stupid," he admitted, motioning behind him with a violent shrug of his shoulder. It caused hair to fall in his face and he blew at it, annoyed. Kurt's face softened a little.

"Well, I think I might know somewhere."

And since Todd's arms were occupied by his possessions, Kurt put a hand on his shoulder and both disappeared from the hallway.

"Holy batshit," Todd remarked, when he'd turned the lights on.

"I know. It's a wreck," Kurt apologized as he tried to weave around the junk. Tentatively, he placed one of Todd's boxes on something that looked abstractedly like a desk having an orgy with several chairs and a bucket. "This room hasn't been used since the, ah . . . Adhesive Incident. Everything Logan couldn't break apart and salvage got shoved in here."

"So it's a storage room for Franken-furniture, huh? This is great. You sure it ain't gonna be missed?"

Todd wandered around the room, grinning. He lifted a sheet covered with about eight layers of dust and poked a plastic stool. It spun aimlessly, adhered to an old record player, which in turn was stuck to a coffee table. He poked it again, bad mood forgotten. "Heh."

"If you can make it work, go for it." Kurt lifted another sheet and sneezed several times. "There's the bed. Um, _a_ bed. Sort of."

"The mattress glued to it?"

"No, I don't think so." Kurt helped Todd lift it up. It was, by only one corner and that pasted but good to the spring box and frame. The oaken frame was tilted at a seventy degree angle, due to a bookshelf stuck under the right side, complete with several National Geographic magazines stuck firmly open to the shelves and sides.

"Okay." Todd said, after a moment of looking around. "Okay, I can make that work."

He wriggled under the bed, lost to view. Kurt looked doubtful.

"Are you sure you don't want to just . . . go upstairs and _try_ to make peace?"

"Nope. This is much more better!" The left end of the bed lifted with a long straining creak until it was level with the bookshelf on the right. Todd gave a small grunt of effort, but sounded otherwise unsquished. "Now push over that shelf – the one with the bicycle on it."

Kurt, wondering just when he'd volunteered to get dragged in on this mad project, resigned himself to his fate and obliged. Several more items were dragged over to the bed, all of them sworn at heartily, and between the two of them pushing and pulling, and in Todd's case becoming a human carjack, the bed evened out.

He went under once more as Kurt pushed in a chest of drawers with a desk lamp growing out of its side. Todd crawled out after what seemed an eternity with dust in his hair and the smile of a madman etched on his face. Kurt took an involuntary step backwards.

"Okay. I can't get the lamp plugged in this side of the room. No worries, I can fix that. You still with me here, or you done?" Todd asked, looking at Kurt who knew what he was implying. Freedom from madness was only one step around the corner. He could run away, flee, live another day without back pain; he had liberty of making any excuse he wanted. Strangely, Kurt found himself grinning instead.

"I've got nowhere else to be right now," he admitted, cheerfully signing away his life with those rash words. Part of his brain wailed in terror. The rest was too curious to care.

Todd whooped and swung himself on top of the bed. "Awriiight! I got me a house-elf!"

"Hey, watch it!" Kurt laughed in protest and climbed up after him.

Several hours later, they'd piled other furniture along the walls; with seemingly useless function as far as Kurt could see, other than clearing the floor. But now that everything was in place, he watched Todd settle into a different flurry of activity – making the separate mountains of balanced chaos actually _useful_ for something.

Metal legs were kicked off the upside down chairs on the desk, flat boards and torn foam cushions placed over them to create a couch. The coffee table with the record player also lost its legs to the cause in order to become a reinforced swivel chair that Kurt guessed only someone as light as Todd could sit on. He was surprised when it held his own weight, knowing he had to be at least a few pounds heavier.

If Logan could see this place, Kurt thought, he would have a cow at the level of destruction going on. Not that any of the furniture was salvageable to begin with, but . . . on the other hand, maybe he'd be impressed. Damn, but the boy could recycle. Kurt sneezed, sending the swivel chair the other way as Todd – barefoot - shook out the dusty sheets and started layering the mattress with them. The structure hardly wobbled - even under the combined weight of both boys; Kurt having stood on it to help stomp the dust out of the mattress.

"We can get cleaner sheets, you know," he called up to Todd. "And pillows too."

"Yeah. Pillows," Todd answered, in a distracted way. Looking for something, he hopped down to land on the sofa, which did wobble, and then to the ground. He frowned and kicked the desk lightly. "Gotta get some cinderblocks in 'ere."

Kurt found himself smirking, a little impressed himself. He'd never seen Todd give something this much focus. Except for maybe Wanda, and that time up in the mountains . . . _that_ experience had certainly painted a different picture of Tolensky.

His stomach, quiet until now, decided to voice another opinion entirely. Kurt put a hand over it and made a face. "Well I'm starving! What about you? You've been like Monster House on crack all afternoon. You _have_ to be hungry."

"I think . . . I'll need a drill." Tolensky paid the question no attention, staring instead at the pile of metal chair legs. "You guys got a drill, right?"

"Um . . . yyyyesss," Kurt answered, aware he was venturing into dangerous waters. "Food," he suggested again.

"A staple gun too," Tolensky went on blithely.

"Food."

"Maybe a couple more extension cords. Hey, you see another lamp anywhere?"

"_Food_," Kurt insisted.

"Oooh, a tire! I didn't see this – maybe I could make a sw– OW!"

Kurt stared up scowling, armed with Todd's other sneaker. "Food," he threatened, arm drawn back. Todd glared, rubbing the back of his head. Kurt had remarkably good aim and it went unspoken he wouldn't miss the second time either.

"Eh. Guess we could go for sandwiches," Todd muttered, looking suddenly miserable again. He jumped down to Kurt's level and stood up. Wordlessly Kurt handed him his shoe and watched him hop around on one foot to retrieve the other. "Think the others have eaten already?"

There was a bit too much hope in his tone, as casually as the question had been intended. Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Avoiding someone by any chance?"

"I'm startin' to have a good day for once," Todd snapped, not looking at him. "Can you leave it alone, 'by chance'?"

"I can," Kurt said quietly, after a tense silence. Todd looked up, surprised Kurt hadn't just ported out. "Uh. Leave it alone, that is. But you know, you are going to have to-"

"I know," the boy groaned. "Trust me, dawg, I know what I gotta do. I got the system all worked out and I can forecast shit hitting the fan before noon tomorrow at the latest. Why don't you all try to enjoy the peace an' quiet for now, huh?"

"Ah . . . you . . . peace and quiet?" Kurt stammered. He whistled. "You're kidding right? You live _here_ now."

"Oh please. You think it's bad now? You ain't seen nuthin' yet, gecko boy. You got the Brotherhood plus one surly bitch under your roof now-"

"Whoaaaa!" Kurt nearly fell off his chair, making the time out signal with his hands. "Time out! Did _you_ just call _Wanda_ a _bitch_?"

"Agh, I take it back. She's not _really_, okay? I didn't mean it but . . . but I did, cause . . . argh!" Todd threw his hands up, frustrated. "I just . . . I . . ."

"You're angry with her."

"Yes! No! I mean . . . she was _right_, dammit. I . . . I gotta fix it. Fuck, I don't wanna think about this right now!" Tolensky sat down, cross-legged, burying his face in his hands. Kurt was reminded sharply of how he'd looked at Arrowrose, how long Todd had stayed curled over like that after Wanda left, and the look in his eyes when he finally lifted his head.

Todd did so now and that same look was there again. Kurt felt something in his stomach twist and barely stopped himself from putting an arm around Todd's shoulders as he offered a bravely frail smile to Kurt. "I just . . . you ever just want a day off of your life before you gotta go back to it?"

Kurt looked at him pointedly. Todd blinked and gave a hysterical little laugh.

"Man, we both full of stupid questions today, huh?" His voice sounded thick. He coughed, trying to cover for it, and looked away embarrassed.

"Yeah, guess we are," Kurt answered, offering a smile of his own. He sat there awkwardly, and stared at the toe of his left shoe. "So . . . all in favor of _eating_ while on vacation?" He raised his hand slowly. Todd smirked and raised his. Still without looking at him, he then reached over and wrapped his fingers around Kurt's wrist.

"Okay. If they're around, we get it to go."

"Fair enough," Kurt agreed softly. Dark smoke swirled in their wake.


	3. Chapter 3

The sunlight seemed to have a force of its own, raising his eyelids before he was prepared to do so himself. Once the ceiling came into focus, everything else did and Todd groaned, reaching for the blankets near his ankles to pull over his head.

There were none to be found and he looked about irritably for the missing covers, only to discover they'd fallen to the floor. Todd, disoriented, gripped the headboard as he realized the floor was a lot further down than it should be. He sat up, scrubbing the gunk from his eyes and blinking further into consciousness.

There was a hammer in his bed. Todd didn't know _why _there was a hammer in his bed, nor did he want to, until he happened to glimpse at the half-assed curtains he'd nailed up last night over the window. They had drooped in the middle enough to let the sun through after all.

Exasperated, he pushed himself to the edge of the bed and rebounded off the next piece of furniture to the ground. His body was sore and he felt like he hadn't closed his eyes for more than a few minutes. The weird dream hadn't helped.

Todd didn't care much for dreams - not unless they involved pleasant material to use later. There'd been no tantalizing images of Wanda, but rather a corpse's bloated hand in water. He made a face and tried to think on what else there might have been, but the only things he could recall were glimpses of a hand and other parts of the body, mostly obscured by reeds. Voices had been conversing about it, in a language Todd had never before heard. It was creepy and unsettling and he hoped he'd forget it by the end of the day.

For now, all he wanted was breakfast and then to figure out how to make peace between himself and Wanda. If he could. He'd thought about it all night while working - despite his best efforts not to.

He knew she was disgusted by him - if he hadn't always known, he definitely would have been sure of it yesterday - and the fucking curtains were going to be easier to fix than that.

Todd shook his head, and forced the thoughts down. Breakfast first, he told himself. Not so much because he was hungry, but because he needed the delay. Despite his resolve, it took an awfully long time for him to get dressed and open the door.

Logan folded the newspaper in half with a snap and resumed reading the cover story on the last page. His method of dealing with mornings was simple - to pretend they didn't exist. In his mind, it was afternoon on a Sunday and if anyone thought to correct him on this fact, they found themselves very apologetic that they were right.

He reached for his coffee and glowered over the rim, just in time to catch Todd in the crosshairs as he entered the kitchen. Todd gave him a hunted glance and took refuge next to the toaster, out of Logan's peripheral vision.

"S'up, dawg?" the boy greeted nervously and promptly attacked the loaf next to the kitchen sink.

"Nnngh. Where were _you_ this mornin', stinkboy?" Logan queried. "Missed one hell of a drill."

"Eh?" Todd asked blankly, searching the fridge for jam. "What drill?"

"Well. That answers that," Wolverine said simply, and drank more coffee.

Todd found a carton of milk in his quest and opened the top, about to liberate a swig. It never reached his lips for the television above the cabinet had settled on an image.

A bloated hand, wind-swept reeds, and the blur of a face. Todd dropped the milk and made a strangled noise. The screen cut back to a blonde anchorwoman, reporting the discovery of a teenaged male found shot to death in a pond near the neighborhood playground, obvious victim of gang-warfare.

Todd's heart was pounding in his chest. Half a minute passed and Logan was suddenly behind him, and he startled badly.

"Sit down," the man ordered, quietly. Todd felt himself steered to a chair and plopped down. Logan walked away then returned with a glass of milk, which he pressed into Todd's hand. Todd stared at it blankly as Logan sat down across from him.

"Knew the guy?" the Wolverine rumbled, surprisingly gentle.

The television had been turned off and its sudden silence rang in Todd's ears. Todd shook his head, jerkily. The young man hadn't been familiar, but the similarities between the hand on the screen and in his dream were too much alike to be comfortable. He still felt Logan's eyes on him, intent with concern. Todd forced himself to drink the milk, feeling embarrassed and oddly, a little warm. Mystique wouldn't have noticed anything but the puddle of milk on the floor.

"Nnh," he muttered. "Just a stupid dream." He felt lame, and even lamer when Logan snorted, leaning back.

"Don't tell me you're dreamin' about stuff before it happens, kid. We got enough telepaths in this house as it is."

"I - I know," Todd muttered. He glanced up and was surprised to find no hint of derision on Logan's face. If anything, the man still looked concerned.

"You need to talk about anything, you come to me." It wasn't an offer so much as an command. Despite the gruff tone, Todd could see the man meant it. He nodded, trying to look calmer than he felt.

"S'cool, yo. It's nothin'."

Logan raised an eyebrow at that, but said no more on the subject.

* * *

With the morning half pissed away already, it was inevitable that Todd live up to the fact that he had nothing . Chocolates were out of his reach as they were guarded jealously by every Institute female, so Todd's hope of snitching one from each box were dashed. Trying to pick flowers from the garden had not gone well, and in any case - Todd thought, as he was fleeing from a very vexed-looking weather witch - they might remind Wanda about the glass rose he'd broken.

The only thing he'd be bringing to Wanda's door was an apology and a hopeful grin and he knew it wouldn't be enough, but it was better than hiding. It was better than not trying to fix things at all. Todd stared down the hallway to the door of her room. He still remembered yesterday and it hurt. His feet didn't seem to want to go at first, but Todd breathed in and stubbornly made them.

He'd scarcely passed the thundering tumult of snores from the room that belonged to Freddy (and himself, though not any longer) when a flash of white and blue zipped in front of him and focused into the Biggest Known Pain in the Universe.

"?" Pietro asked, hands going to his hips. The speedster looked rumpled and irritated, as though someone had forced him to get up before sunrise and long before he had time to fix his hair - two cardinal sins in one day. Todd blinked, startled. Lance came out of the room, attempting to defeat a very bad case of bed hair.

"Um . . ."

"Yeah, Todd, where were you?" Lance more yawned than articulated, looking less pissy and more like he wanted to flop over and go back to bed. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand while Todd squirmed in misery.

"I wasn't able to sleep. So I just hung out."

"Really? Cause I searched just about all the rooms _you'd_ have access to. And you look just a bit too well-rested to not have slept, doesn't he, Lance?"

"Yeah, well you didn't search all the rooms and maybe I did catch a few winks. What's the deal?" Todd asked and immediately regretted it as Pietro went nose-to-nose with him. Apparently someone had also forced Pietro out of bed before he'd brushed his teeth.

Not that Todd was one to complain of hygiene, but _still_ . . .

"The _deal_ is that you weren't there when Summers knocked on our doors at _five freakin' thirty in the morning!_" Pietro yelled, shoving him with enough force to make Todd fall back.

"Yo, what the hell - I'm in trouble cause Summers is a prick? How's that fair?" Todd protested, getting back to his feet. Sleepy grumbles came from Fred's room - Dukes apparently had been smart enough to just go back to sleep rather than nurse grievances.

"Exactly! Not fair, Toad! Since because _you _were absent, Summers was even more of a smug asshole than he had to be! He denied me coffee. _COFFEE! _I am sensing a definite lack of concern from you about this," Pietro retorted, tapping his foot in an agitated blur.

"Why that inconceivable prick," Todd dripped with sarcasm. He raised his hands, helplessly. "So what the hell do you want meto do about it _now_, yo?"

"A little loyalty would be nice!" Pietro snapped.

"_And_ you could tell us where you were," Lance added. "You found a place to crash where Summers couldn't find you. So let us in on it."

Todd scowled in annoyance. He hadn't forgotten the little conversation he'd overheard the previous afternoon. "Why should I? You should be glad I ain't stinkin' the place up for you. What's it matter to you where I sleep?"

Lance looked chagrined, much to Todd's satisfaction. Pietro's ire seemed to disappear at once, though it was replaced with something dangerous. He leaned against the wall, folding his arms.

"Ohhhh. I get it. You just wanted your own room, that it? Didn't wanna share with Freddy anymore, and his own special little stink bombs? Aww, and he was real worried bout you last night, too. Tsk. Shame on you."

With a squirm in his gut, Todd knew that was how Pietro was going to spin the tale to Freddy. If Dukes believed it, Todd would have to deal with the big guy's anger. And if he saw through Pietro being an outright jerk, his feelings would still be hurt.

Pietro was manipulating him and Todd hated how easily he could do it. Shoulders tense, Todd glared at the ground. "Fine," he muttered in resignation. "I found a room that was empty, an' -"

"Hey, um, Toad?"

The voice stopped him cold, unexpectedly saving him. Todd looked over Pietro's shoulder at Wanda and opened his mouth. He shut it just as quickly, realizing he had nothing to say.

He swallowed hard, as everything he'd attempted to push down to a manageable level of pain rose up to choke him.

_No, it's coo'. It's all coo'. I don't wanna smack the girl I love about the head_, Todd thought, frantically. He repeated it to himself like a mantra as she approached.

"Todd, I mean. Look, what I said yesterday . . ."

_Barely even human! _

Todd flinched, and tried to squash it down. He opened his mouth again and tried to stammer out an apology. It was okay. Really. He was used to it. He loved her. He was sorry.

"I'm sorry. I know you didn't do it on purpose, and -"

_What the hell makes you think I could ever love you? _

He shuddered, clenching his fists. He bowed his head and couldn't even look up, even when Wanda touched his arm.

"I had no right to say those things to you."

_What could you ever offer me? There's fucking nothing you could give me that I want! _

Todd was backing up, shoulders knotted with so much tension that they hurt. She'd meant it. She was sorry she'd said it, but she'd _meant it_.

"Todd, please." Her fingers brushed against his shoulder. Todd surprised himself more than anyone when he jerked away, as if her touch burned.

"Stop!" He nearly shouted, baring his teeth. "S-Stop apologizing." Fuck. This was going wrong.

_You're barely even human!_

Todd grit his teeth, and something in his chest contracted painfully and it was then his control slipped. "You're fucking wrong! I . . . I _am_ human, you bitch!" His voice wavered, making him sound more like a wounded animal than anything else.

Pietro's lower jaw could have made it to China.

Todd's heart was pounding. The hell was wrong with him? He hadn't wanted to say that at all. He loved her, and if he loved her he wasn't supposed to talk to her like this.

Unable to look at Wanda, breath hitching, Todd dodged past her fingers and ignored his name when it was called. Beyond those two efforts, nobody stopped him.


	4. Chapter 4

_Fuck. _If one word could completely describe Todd's day thus far, then 'Fuck' would be it, capital F and all. At least he'd gotten out of there before he could do or say anything else stupid, though he was sure he was never going to live that particular event down.

He'd just called the woman of his dreams a bitch. He'd yelled at her, he'd run away from her. As she'd been trying to _apologize_.

Part of him was glad he'd done it. Proud of himself. She'd had it coming, really. Todd wished he could bury those thoughts in a hole somewhere and never come back for them.

You weren't supposed to yell at women. Yelling led to worse things. It led to raising a hand, to knocking her down. Then, when she was on her back and cowering, there was nothing to do but yell at her some more. It was an ugly cycle Todd had bore witness to more than a few times. He didn't want to turn into his father. In fact, he was paranoid about it - to the point where it had become a comfort knowing Wanda could beat his ass into the ground if he ever tried.

The stone under his back was cool, contrasting with the warmth of the sun that filtered through the branches of the trees above him. Todd had not stopped running, not really caring where or when he'd stop, until an untied shoelace had tripped him up and sent him tumbling down a slight embankment to slam against a mossy circle of brick.

It turned out to be a fountain base, so wide in diameter it looked as though it had once been a decorative well. The base was filled with water and algae and Todd couldn't see the bottom when he looked in. Something pale flitted past; a small frog or newt perhaps. Dragonflies hovered lazily over the vegetation that stirred on the brackish surface.

Hurting and too tired to run any more, he'd sat down on the edge of the fountain and watched the water. Some moments passed before he stretched out, letting the cool stone sooth his overheated skin and the aches from his rough landing.

Maybe he could still figure this out. He and Wanda could make up, both of them were overstressed and they were probably blowing all of this up bigger than it was. Yeah, she'd hurt him. But she'd felt bad for it later. That had to count for something at least. Hell, that was more than he'd been expecting anyway. For once he wasn't entirely at fault - and maybe, just maybe, his own explosion of anger had been understandable.

He could fix this.

Todd let his eyes drift closed in the sun, and dreamed of voices.

* * *

"Relax, Kurt. Nothing will go wrong this time," Amanda had told him.

Kurt ran the comb nervously through his hair for the fortieth time that morning, and almost did a complete brush-over before he remembered he'd be wearing his holowatch in front of the Sefton parental units. For the beginning at least; depending on how comfortable they could get with the idea of him turning it off.

He'd been distracted yesterday with the Brotherhood moving in, and Tolensky's strange immediate rift with them. And not just that; earlier Jamie had gotten into a fight with Sam over a borrowed CD, followed by Amara breaking down into tears because in order to make room for Wanda, Tabby was being moved in with Jubilee and not her.

Kurt had decided to follow the cardinal Institute rule of _Don't Ask Unless You Really Want to Know_, and had successfully cheered her up with impressions of Bobby's spectacular face plant off the ice-slide that morning at drills.

Todd had been the last of his charges and Kurt had stuck with him for an hour, enjoying the company for a change. Todd had been animated, halfway through a sandwich and describing what he was going to put on the ceiling as soon as he could get hold of a drill (God forbid) and then the hallway phone had rung.

It was Amanda, reminding him about herself and her parents' visit tomorrow; the last ditch effort to keep the Seftons from moving out of Bayville. The news that Kurt was a teleporter had leaked out through the media and understandably, Mr. and Mrs. Sefton weren't comfortable with their daughter's forbidden boyfriend having the power to come and take her. As if he would.

This was a chance to convince them that he would never abuse his power in such a way that would make him any danger to them or to Amanda. She'd worked hard getting them agree to take a tour of Kurt's school. Happily, she'd already had some success convincing her parents that Kurt's need for the holowatch had been intended to protect himself, not to deceive.

Kurt, however, had almost forgotten it was today and he'd spent the rest of last night in a mild panic. He had walked Todd back to his room, pointing out helpful landmarks so he could remember how to get there again. Todd had told him to go and take some Maalox or something cause he sure looked like shit.

He'd taken Todd's advice two hours ago and his stomach was still in knots. They tightened as he looked out the window; Mr. Sefton and family had just pulled up to the Institute's gate.

Kurt took one breath, then another deeper one, and ported to join Professor Xavier outside the main front doors. Within the space of three minutes, the Sedan was parked in the front and Amanda and her parents were walking up the steps.

Well, jogging in Amanda's case. She greeted Kurt enthusiastically, ignoring her mother's pensive frown and her father's outright scowl. Kurt saw it, and was very, very careful where he put his hands as he returned the embrace.

The Professor broke the ice, greeting the Seftons calmly and gradually the awkward hackles smoothed down. Margali Sefton gracefully played the hostess for her family and gently nudged her husband to walk inside with her. He gave Amanda a warning look as she lingered behind to hold Kurt's hand.

Kurt held hers obligingly, wishing she wasn't being defiant right now. She was used to her parents' anger over the two of them, but he felt each dirty look like a knife.

Ororo soon joined them, since the Professor was picking up uncomfortable 'old rich white guy' vibes projecting from the Seftons' thought patterns. She and Marge interacted remarkably well and things began to even out again.

Kurt squeezed Amanda's hand under the table. Maybe this would work, he thought. For the first time that week he actually believed it.

* * *

The voices were loud in Todd's head. He snorted and turned his face to the other side, half waking at the touch of cold against his cheek. Todd opened one eye blearily, and tried to pull the pieces of a dream into a memory.

The voices hadn't stopped, which was one reason his attempt failed. Todd tried to open his eyes for real this time, and possibly strained something. "Ow," he muttered. The voices fell silent; a mercy since they'd all been going on at once.

Then, one of them spoke again.

{Nadii, approach him. Have courage.}

Something moved in Todd's line of sight, near his head. The boy sat up, blinking furiously. Okay, freaky city - time to wake up for real now. No more foolin' around.

Todd looked at his surroundings. They were the same as when he'd dozed off. And by his hand, where his head had been, was a tiny beige frog. It chirruped and shrunk down, eyes big and ready to plop back into the water within a moment's notice.

Huh. Cute little guy.

Todd looked around him, figuring he was awake now. Least he didn't seem to be dreaming anymore. Nope, he'd been scared out of it by a teeny ickle frog. Lame.

He studied the frog who slowly seemed to be stretching out of its defensive crouch, testing to see if Todd was the enemy. Of course not. The amphibian was the size of Todd's thumb pad, he noticed. It inched toward Todd's hand, seemed to debate with itself for a moment, then jumped into it. Todd smirked and lifted his hand to chest level, studying the frog as intensely as it seemed to be studying him.

Then it talked.

And Todd almost fell backward into the pond in the attempt to fling it away from him.

His free hand flailed for balance, finding only pond water behind him and gravity plunged him up to his shoulder in it. Slippery algae and the feel of things slithering past his skin to get away did not help in the least as his fingers scrabbled for purchase among the slimy pebbles. His other hand was still trying to dislodge the little frog, which was clinging for dear life to the back of his hand.

Finally it leapt off into the grass, allowing Todd to flip onto his side and push himself out of the water.

{Nadii! Are you alright?}

{I think so . . .}

Todd swore, scrabbling crablike over the grass and away from the fountain.

There was silence, broken by Todd's heart beating painfully hard. His legs and hands were shaking. He rolled over on his belly to get up , only to come face-to-face with a dark brown toad. Todd shrieked and recoiled.

{Relax} it said simply. {Breathe. Stop moving around. You Uprights are very dangerous when you panic.}

He gulped for air and managed it, back pressed against the stone fountain wall once more. Todd wasn't sure he was _capable _of moving.

{Thank you,} the brown amphibian said, and wisely made no move to hop closer. Todd stared. It wasn't a particularly attractive looking animal; covered in lumped clusters of warts. And it was huge; both Todd's hands cupped together couldn't have held its girth. The only pleasant attribute that nature had afforded was a set of luminous amber eyes. Todd couldn't seem to look away from them.

{I'm dreamin'. I gotta be dreamin'. Somethin' was in that sandwich - maybe the mustard was expired, I dunno -} Todd was babbling, unawares he was no longer speaking English.

{You were hearing us in your dreams, were you not? It was not intended for you to see that poor murdered boy. Too late, we realized you shared a link with us.}

Todd shook his head, not understanding. Not really wanting to either.

{We did not expect you to speak with us so soon. I regret to have frightened you.}

They sat there in the grass for long moments, the brown toad and the scared-shitless teenager. Eventually Todd got his breathing and his wildly scattered thoughts under some sort of control.

{I think,} he said quietly. {I mighta gone insane or something.}

{You would not be the first. Nor are you the first Upright that we have talked to.}

{Upright?} Todd echoed, feeling very surreal.

{What we call you humans. My name is Morla. The young frog you threw some distance away is Nadii.}

Todd fidgeted, not sure if he was being scolded for that. {I was startled,} he defended. {If it was just the one of you, I woulda thought Mystique was playin' games wit' my head.}

{It is not just the one of us, my friend. It is many. Listen.} The old toad fell silent, and Todd could hear once more - voices. Many, many voices, all coming from the grasses around him and the pond behind him. He pressed his back against the fountain, uncomfortable with it.

{Alright, you know - this is getting a little too freaky for me. I might've thought it was cool yesterday, but not right now. How do I stop it? I wanna just stop.}

{You can stop any time you wish,} Morla answered. {But I advise you not to try too suddenly. Fear will only complicate things.}

Todd focused on him alone, and was able to regulate the other voices to background noise. Just as if he was in the kitchen with other Institute geeks milling around and blabbing to each other. It was a slight comfort. Then the toad's words sank in.

{What you mean fear? I ain't afraid of no frogs.} Which sort of contradicted his earlier shrieking fit.

{Never mind,} Morla said easily. {We have other things to talk about. May I come closer?}

Todd hesitated for a moment, but nodded. He'd lived the weird day to day, this was all just standard routine, right? He could cope. Besides, they were just little bitty amphibians, not like they could hurt him.

He was freaked out a little, but he wasn't afraid. He had nothing to be afraid of. Todd watched Morla crawl toward him and threaded his fingers together in the attempt to stop his hands from trembling.

* * *

Large disasters happen in little stages. This is an unwritten truth. Had Kurt not excused himself to seek out the restroom (for nerves rather than the call of nature, as he'd just discovered he was shedding from anxiety) , then Amanda would have not slipped quietly away when her mother and father were distracted by Ororo's interesting anecdote of the time she was believed a Goddess.

Had Margali not taken her questions on a tangent that lost Mr. Sefton's interest, causing to notice Amanda and Kurt's absence, he would not gone to look for them.

He would not have found instead the teenaged thug who had broken into his home and wrecked nearly everything in the ensuing battle with Kurt. The boy Amanda had claimed was not one of Kurt's alleged 'friends'.

Mr. Sefton frowned. A small brown lump in the grass turning around to face him - a toad, in fact - brought the boy's attention to his presence. Todd's eyes widened in recognition.

"What are you doing here?" Mr. Sefton asked, sounding authoritative. He was truthfully just as scared as the boy looked, not wishing to have his eyes slimed shut again. Or perhaps worse; Mr. Sefton didn't know the full extent of his powers.

The boy flinched and started to stand up, talking fast in a language he had never heard before.

* * *

{Yo, what're you sayin', fool? Talk normal. And you shouldn't sneak up on people like that anyway,} Todd scolded, standing up nervously. He knew the man was Fuzzy's girl's father, but what he didn't understand was why the man was _here _at the Institute_. _

Judging from Mr. Sefton's stance, he was surprised too. But surprise had turned to anger quickly, and now the man was advancing toward him. Todd dodged out of the way, putting his hands up.

{Yeah, I know I'm the creep that trashed yo house, but that don't mean you gotta hurt me. You're insured, right? If-If not I'm sure Xavier can pay for it!} Todd stammered, watching the bigger man's every move.

Mr. Sefton frowned. The boy had spoken English clearly enough before.

"Are you supposed to be here?" he demanded, stepping forward. "You're not one of Kurt's friends, or so I'm told. So why are you here?"

The teenager was obviously panicking, probably not supposed to be here at all. He looked at a space on the ground where the toad had once been. There was no sign of it now.

Mr. Sefton lost his patience. "Answer me boy, or so help me I will call the police and I will hold you down until they get here!" he shouted.

* * *

Todd cringed, not understanding a word of it. It sounded familiar, but at the same time it wasn't. And where was Morla? For a second he thought Amanda's father had stepped on the little guy, but he would've heard that.

He turned to the pond, trying to pick out the voices he'd heard so easily before. {Hello? Morla?}

All was silent, the type of silent waiting for a predator to pass. Not even chirping. A hand grabbed his arm. Todd wrenched away and started to book but Mr. Sefton was fast, catching him under the arm again.

He was holding too hard, demanding answers to a question - but the question hadn't been English. It wasn't like anything Todd had heard. The man's face was dark with anger and Todd's pulse kicked up

{What do you want, dawg? You want an apology or somethin'! I give you one, okay? I'm sorry for makin' yo house all messy and breakin' shit! Just stop yellin' in my face - yo freakin' me out and yo gonna step on somebody!}

No recognition whatsoever passed across the man's face. He wasn't faking it, he couldn't be. Mr. Sefton didn't understand him, and that meant . . .

Todd looked behind him at the fountain. {Why can't I talk to him! What do I do? Morla! Tell me!}

"Stop fooling around!" Mr. Sefton roared and Todd couldn't bite back a shriek.

Todd could feel his heart pounding and tasted acid. Yelling led to hitting, and he didn't want to be hit for this. Todd struggled in earnest, trying to get away from the man. He couldn't reason with him, and he was panicking too hard to try now.

* * *

Amanda had him cornered behind the rose hedge, lips caressing his throat, hand running up his side. Kurt whimpered a little and tried to push it down. "Amanda," he gasped, turning his face aside. It only seemed to encourage her. He was alright with kissing and hugging her, but anything else was inappropriate- especially right now. What if her parents saw them? She was doing everything her parents had warned her against, he was sure of it.

"Amanda, stop," he said, more evenly and started to push her away. She resisted at first, then gave in with a sob. Kurt opened his eyes, alarmed as Amanda buried her face in her hands.

"Kurt, why - why now? We finally get to see each other and you push me away? Do you not like me anymore?"

Kurt winced. "That's not true and you know it, liebe. This is just not the best time."

"It's never the 'best time' is it?" Amanda retorted, wiping her eyes. "My parents forbid us from being together, but I was ready to sneak out with you whenever you wanted to. You could even port me out of my room any damn time, but you were content with phone-calls and emails! What am I supposed to think?"

Kurt stared at her. "Amanda, I love you. I don't want you to be in trouble with your parents because of me. I want them to trust me so we can be together in the open, that's why I never snuck you out. Isn't that what we've been working towards?"

"At first, yes," she admitted. "But my dad is going to move us anyway, I know him! If not because of you, then because of creeps like Toad or anti-mutant protestors. Dad thinks a gang might go after me because of you! This might be the last chance we ever have."

"To kiss?" Kurt asked bewildered, backing against the hedge. He stiffened as the thorns pricked him warningly.

"No," Amanda said, and she suddenly looked very predatory. Kurt barely had time to meep as she pounced, kissing him fiercely. Too fierce. He gasped and turned his face into her shoulder, scrabbling to stop the hand that was sliding up under his shirt. The hedge behind him shook, sending showers of petals and leaves down as the thorns kept digging into his back.

He made an uncomfortable noise, trying to at least angle toward the stone pillar which wouldn't be nearly as painful to lean up against, but she wouldn't permit him. Amanda nipped softly at his throat and Kurt was considering porting them both into a very cold swimming pool, when he heard Todd's familiar shriek nearby. Followed by the angry voice of Amanda's father.

Kurt froze and this time, so did Amanda. He used the distraction to slip out from between her and the thorn bush and raced toward the noise, pulling her by the hand. Amanda went along, not content to stand by herself among all the damaged roses.

* * *

"I'll ask you again, boy -" Mr. Sefton was shouting, still holding onto Todd's arm. The boy was trying to undo the man's grip on him and Kurt winced at the sheer amount of terror on his face. He went toward them, even as Mr. Sefton took in the disheveled state of both daughter and mutant boyfriend.

"Amanda, call the police," was all he said, but the look he gave Kurt was frosty.

"Mr. Sefton, let him go," Kurt said, putting a hand on the man's arm and blocking Todd from view with his body. He felt Todd grab at his shirt, tugging at him desperately.

Mr. Sefton did, all but flinging Todd away. "Is he supposed to be here, Wagner? Is that what you're telling me? He's welcome here now? Because that would just be icing on the cake."

Todd hid completely behind Kurt, both hands clutching the back of the elf's shirt. Kurt could feel him shaking.

"Recently, very recently, the Brotherhood moved in with us," Kurt admitted quietly.

"The Brotherhood boys? Oh wonderful, you're taking in mutant gangs now? And yet you've invited us here to ensure us of our safety should we stay in Bayville!" Mr. Sefton fired back at him.

"I invited you here so I could speak for myself, Mr. Sefton. I would never hurt your daughter," Kurt tried to argue. Amanda looked at him, eyes wet, and just shook her head.

"But you want her and her family, to stay here, where people like that can." He pointed shakily at Todd.

"That's not true!" Kurt protested. "We took the Brotherhood in because they had nobody else to turn to - they're not a danger to anybody anymore! Not that I have to explain that to you," he added, "Since you are obviously the one who attacked him."

"I did not attack anyone! I thought he was trespassing and he tried to bolt! Wouldn't answer a single question. Not in English, at least," countered Mr. Sefton.

Kurt frowned and turned to look at Todd. The boy wasn't looking at anyone, face white. Kurt disentangled his hands from the cloth of his shirt and held them. They were ice-cold. "Todd?"

{Can't understand a damn word. Can't understand anything. All messed up,} Todd babbled.

"See? That's what I mean," Amanda's father said, feeling vindicated. "How the hell was I supposed to know?"

Kurt watched Todd sink further down, trying to hide his face against his arms. He glared at Mr. Sefton. "For one, we already have a security system which we had to disable to allow you inside. We don't need your help in that department. Second, all he ever did was break a few things in your house - which we've already offered to pay for-"

"Yes, you've offered to pay for it, but what about him? In my day, when I broke a window - my father would take me right over there and make me apologize or offer to do chores."

"He'd come up to you two months after the incident and yell at you until you had a mental breakdown to the point where you couldn't even speak English?" Kurt snapped, showing teeth. Mr. Sefton took a step back. Even Amanda looked alarmed. "I think not! I've had it up to here with you! You're so worried about the time your things were broken, that you couldn't spare a second to act like a decent human being!"

"Kurt!" Amanda shouted, looking upset. Margali and Ororo were running toward them, having sensed something was amiss. They would have been alerted sooner, had Professor Xavier not been called away to take a phone call. Another one of those little things.

"I kept from porting her out of her house against your wishes, I kept by your rules, and all you've ever done is throw what I look like back in my face!" Kurt continued hotly. "If you can't accept me, that's fine - but I'm starting to think maybe Bayville will be better off without you living here!"

"Kurt, that is enough," Charles said. Those four words were all it took for Kurt to come back to himself and take in what he'd said. Amanda was staring at him open mouthed, Margali had a hand clapped over hers and Mr. Sefton . . . He was looking anywhere but directly at Kurt, face like stone.

Kurt felt the blood drain from his face and looked down at Todd, who was holding very still. The boy glanced up, eyes seeming more luminous - but maybe that was just the surreal ness of the moment.

"I think we'll be leaving now," Mr. Sefton said lowly. Kurt glanced at Amanda and she refused to look at him, stiffly going to her father's side. He watched her and her family's backs moving away from him. Ororo followed to see them out, glancing over her shoulder at Kurt sorrowfully.

He felt like a hole had just been ripped right through him. He'd just . . . he'd just ruined any chance that he and Amanda would ever be together. Kurt closed his eyes in despair and turned to Xavier, who had wheeled closer to study Todd.

A moment passed, then Todd cried out sharply and clutched either side of his head. He made a low keening noise of pain through his teeth. Kurt was jolted out of his self-pity to catch him by the shoulders, keeping him from curling further in on himself.

"We'll need to get him to my office."

"What's wrong with him?" Kurt asked, having something else to focus on for now. "I've never seen him like this."

"Neither have I, but I have some theory. Nothing he's going to like, I'm afraid. I will let him know that you are porting him." Todd made another noise of pain, squirming against Kurt's grip. Kurt looked at him questioningly and Xavier sighed. "He says that I'm too loud."

He nodded at Kurt and the elf touched Charles' shoulder, teleporting all three of them into Xavier's office quarters.


	5. Chapter 5

True awkwardness, Kurt decided, was when there were two people carrying on a conversation without you in the same room. With their _heads_.

He'd tried to keep from staring at them as best as he could, despite the unfortunate fact that the Professor had nothing at all entertaining to look at in his office. And Kurt _needed _something to look at, because he didn't want to think about anything.

More than once, Kurt's gaze flicked back to Todd, who was seated one chair away from him and holding perfectly still. It was a far cry from earlier; when Todd had nearly elbowed him in the face as he'd been made to sit down. Kurt could hear the boy's heart beating from where he sat; it was still much too fast.

Xavier, for his part, looked much calmer and barely blinked. Growing desperate, Kurt found himself wondering how rude it would be if he got up and selected a book to flip through from one of the many shelves. Certainly less rude than sitting here gawking at them.

He had no more time to debate that course of action, for in the next moment Todd gave a sudden harsh gasp and jerked in his seat. Xavier leaned back in his, looking more relaxed.

"Can you understand me, Todd?"

The boy's throat seemed to catch on something as he nodded. "Yeah," he answered thinly. It took him a few minutes, but Todd eventually sat a little straighter in the chair and his voice went back to its normal pitch. "Why the hell did that happen to me?"

"We were hoping you could help shed some light on that subject. What were you doing, before Mr. Sefton interrupted you?"

"I . . ." Todd looked at Kurt, then back at Xavier. He seemed to be at a complete loss for how to continue. That or he was trying to find a way to say it without sounding like a complete moron. Todd finally gave up on keeping any shred of dignity whatsoever, lowered his eyes, and blurted a simple admission: "I was talkin' to a toad."

Kurt blinked. Xavier did not, merely inclining his head slightly as if this was a mild curiosity. In all honestly, the man had heard much weirder things in his lifetime.

Nonplussed, Kurt opened his mouth to question the bizarreness of that statement, only to have Todd look at him meanly and dare him to utter a single word. Just one. Kurt shut his mouth with an audible click.

"So you can speak with amphibians psionically?" Xavier asked, interested.

"I dunno what that last word means, but I guess so. It only happened this once and I kinda freaked but I was okay afterwards, then I _really_ freaked when Sefton started yellin' his fool head off. That's probably why I got stuck. Anyway, this whole thing is probably just a fluke. I ain't never been able to talk to amphibians before now."

"Have you been stressed lately?"

"With the move and all, sure," Todd said flippantly, deciding not to mention Wanda. "Who isn't?"

"Hmm," was all Xavier had to say to that.

Kurt knew there would be more questions and wondered uncomfortably why he was still here. This was looking to become a personal conversation shortly. The Professor seemed to pick up on his discomfort.

{Something wrong, Kurt?}

{Perhaps I should leave, Professor. I don't think Todd's going to want me here.}

{On the contrary, he would be more upset if you were not,} Xavier told him.

Kurt looked startled. What did the Professor mean by _that? _Before he could ask, Xavier had already started to interview Todd. He didn't delve into personal subjects, instead keeping it comfortably superficial. Bit by bit, Todd seemed to be relaxing.

He answered the questions about his sleeping habits (sleeping less, but harder) and his appetite (eating more; maybe just 'cause the food here's better than ramen an' bug guts, y'know?) with an offhanded demeanor. Xavier did not strike on something Todd particularly cared about until he asked how the living arrangements were working out.

Lost in his thoughts, Kurt didn't pay attention to much of it until he heard Todd talking brightly about the reconstruction of his room. And then asking for a damned drill, _again. _

Xavier's expression was a picture of bemusement mixed subtly with alarm and just a dash of foreboding. Kurt admired his cool-headedness until he realized that Todd Tolensky asking for a power tool was nowhere near as dangerous as Bobby Drake asking for a power tool, a request to which every living thing at the Institute had indoctrinated the mantra: _Never Ever EVER Again_.

"Yeah, we worked on that thing all day, huh dawg?" Todd asked, looking at Kurt. "'Course I think Pietro wants to move in and take it over for himself as soon as he finds out where it is. I can keep it though, right?"

Todd's tone was anxious and he glanced at Kurt again to see if the boy would vouch for him.

"You're still having trouble with them?" Kurt asked, and Todd's meaningful 'shut up' stare came much too late. Todd scowled and looked away.

"Would I be correct in assuming that they have been partially responsible for some of the stress you've been under?" asked Xavier, getting back to the conversation.

Todd once again attempted to divert the subject away from the Brotherhood and Wanda.

"Yo, so you think it's just stress makin' me able to talk to the frogs an' stuff? 'Cause Morla was cool and everything, but I don't wanna get stuck like that again."

Xavier didn't seem upset at the subject change. If anything, he seemed saddened. "No, Todd. It wasn't a fluke of your powers generated by one incident of stress. I wish I could assure you it was. Rather, it is an indication of more to come."

"More to come?" Todd asked blankly. "What d'you mean?"

"Even though your mutation has been evident since your birth, it has not reached its full peak. You went through a few changes as you grew, but while doing so it is possible you did not get enough nutrition nor did you feel safe enough in your environment to manifest all of your powers.

"When this happens, a mutant often has a period of later development. The body waits until it feels ready to completely fulfill your genetic makeup. The catalyst is an event of high stress, most commonly emotional," Xavier explained. "This event is what prompts the manifestation, in case you might benefit from the powers that result."

"But that don't make no sense. Why would I _need_ to talk to a bunch of amphibians?"

"While that is admittedly an unexpected power, there will be other changes; more than likely of the physical variety."

"When you mean change . . . and - and manifestations an' shit - you mean I'm gonna - I might not look . . ." Todd swallowed hard. He had pulled his legs up to perch on the chair unconsciously. "When does it start?"

"I'm afraid it already has," the Professor said at length. "I don't know how far along your mutation will actually change you; all I can do is warn you ahead of time that it may happen soon." Todd seemed to be waiting for something else, and lifted his head when he didn't hear it.

"You . . . You aren't gonna start sayin' how I'm gonna grow into my full potential now? How I should be looking forward to this? When and where my 'Second Manifestation Party' takes place?" Todd cracked, though his smirk didn't reach his eyes.

Xavier shook his head. "No, Todd. I know physical differences are hard on anybody, especially for those mutants like you and Kurt. If I could find a way to reverse it I would. Regrettably, that's impossible at this time."

"Well . . ." Todd's eyes were focused on nothing, and he abruptly stood up from his chair. "Think I'm gonna go to my room now. I'm tired as hell. If it's alright wit' you."

"No, that's fine. Please don't hesitate to seek me out if there's something I can do for you. And Todd -" The boy already had his hand on the door, but looked impassively over his shoulder at Xavier. "It _is_ your room, since you and Kurt have worked on it. Should anyone have a problem accepting that, let me know."

For the first time Kurt had seen that day, Todd actually gave the man a genuine, if strained, smile. "Sure." He opened the door and walked out, letting it close behind him.

Xavier's gaze flicked towards Kurt once Todd was gone. "Kurt, I know you wish to talk to me about Amanda," he said gently.

Kurt started a little guiltily. Truthfully, he'd been a little more worried about Todd. Maybe it was because he'd forced himself to, so he didn't have to think of how he'd ruined everything.

"Y-Yes," he said. Though honestly, he'd rather just be on the phone with her so he could apologize, try to make things right between them.

"Do you wish to talk about it now?"

Damn, he must have been projecting. "No," Kurt admitted. "I don't even want to _think_ about it, Professor. I know I have to do something. I just - I don't know what."

"You're hurt," Xavier reasoned. "Liable to say something you don't mean if you were to call her right now while the both of you are still angry. I would wait if I were you."

"Ach, but what do I do with myself in the meantime? I'll go crazy if I just wait! I'll - I'll lose her!"

"No, Kurt. That is, you won't lose her if you _wait. _I ask that you trust me on this. I too was a teenager once."

Though he agonized, Kurt knew Xavier was right. He should at least put a few hours between now and when he called her again; give them both time to calm down.

"As for what you can do in the meantime, I think there is a certain person who just left this office who might like someone to talk to."

"Nein," Kurt said, shook his head. "Tolensky and I aren't friends, Professor. We get along a little better now, and I - we _did_ have fun while working on his room, but that doesn't make us friends. I think right now, he just wants to be left alone."

"Of course, Kurt. I see," Xavier nodded.

Grateful that he wasn't going to push the subject, Kurt got up and started for the door. As his hand started to push it open, the Professor's voice caught him in arrest.

"I must say, it's interesting though. When we want to be left alone, that's usually when we need someone there the most."

Kurt looked back over his shoulder for a long moment, then sighed. He _was_ a little worried about Todd. It was getting ridiculously hard not to be. He shook his head, smiling ruefully. Well, it was better than moping around at least. Kurt left the office, then bamfed to the hallway outside Todd's room.

He raised his hand to knock on the door, then lowered it when he saw Todd come around the corner down the hallway. Todd noticed him and scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "What d'you want?"

His tone was surly and Kurt's mind went back to what Xavier had said earlier, about wanting him around. Maybe he'd been mistaken? Or maybe Kurt had pissed him off.

"Um, you alright?" Kurt asked. He felt lame even before Tolensky fixed him with an incredulous glare.

"Yeah, I'm just _peachy_," he drawled. "'Scuse me." He tried to get past Kurt to the door.

"I'm sorry, alright? That was stupid of me to ask," Kurt started, getting in his way.

"Yeah, I bet you're sorry. You had to sit there through that whole thing an' listen about somebody else's troubles, 'stead of gettin' to bitch and whine about yours." Todd stopped trying to get past Kurt and stared anywhere else but directly at him. "I know Amanda got pissed at you, okay? And I know it was 'cause of me. Couldn't hear nothin', but I could still _see_. Ain't my fault and I don't care right now even if it is, so don't bother tryin' to make me feel bad!"

"I'm not! I wouldn't!" Kurt protested, bewildered. "That's not why I'm here."

"Well why the fuck _are_ you here then, Wagner? I never asked you to start yellin' your fool head off at her folks. We ain't friends, so leave me alone!"

"I told you already, I don't blame you! I don't even want to _talk_ about that!" Kurt argued. He was about to say more, but Todd pushed past him and entered his room. Then he slammed the door in Kurt's face.

"Then we ain't got nothing to talk _about!_" came the shout from the other side. Kurt rolled his eyes, pulled his mouth in a tight line, then ported into Todd's room. The boy turned, almost as if expecting him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Kurt snapped. "I never brought anything up!"

"Oooh, look at me, I'm too _nice_ to get mad at the guy who just lost me my girlfriend - _twice!_ You are so fulla shit," Todd sneered. "Go play 'Boy Scout' somewhere else! I ain't interested!"

"Do you _want _me to be angry about this?"

"I'd like you to stop being a passive shithead about it! Why are you still here? Don't you have some major ass-kissing to do on the phone or somethin?"

Kurt stared at him. It _had_ been a mistake to come here; Tolensky really didn't want anything to do with him and he was being an asshole about it. "You know, maybe a phone call _isn't_ going to fix anything," he said coldly.

"Aw, poor baby. Y'know, I think you'd be better off without a chick who's got a dumbass fetish." He smiled nastily. "Don't worry though, dawg, I'm sure once you've groveled enough, she'll let you pick out your leash an' collar -"

Todd was cut off as a fist slammed into his face, followed by a shove that sent him crashing into a desk-couch. It wobbled unsteadily, but Todd scrambled onto his feet and lunged. Kurt threw himself aside, letting Todd's momentum carry him forward to hit the wall. Twisting in the air, he rebounded off it and caught Kurt in a tackle that slammed the both of them into the floor.

Kurt rolled with him, fighting to disentangle his hands and throw another punch. He succeeded, and shortly after Todd got in one of his own which bloodied Kurt's lip and Todd's knuckle when the fang grazed it.

Kurt grabbed a handful of hair, yanking Todd's face back and punched him again when his hands let go to try and pry his fingers away from his scalp. In retaliation, Todd drove his knee up into Kurt's midsection, eliciting a broken gasp, but Kurt pressed down with an arm across Todd's throat on their next roll over the floor and put as much weight as he could, trying to pin him.

Cursing and turning paler, Todd bucked and tried to kick him off. When that failed, he turned his face into Kurt's other arm, which still had a hold of his hair, and bit as hard as he could.

Kurt yowled, then looked down at him evilly. Todd, sensing the stupidity of reminding the other boy that _he_ was the one who had _fangs_, gave a scream and tried even harder to kick Kurt off. He partially succeeded, only for Kurt to slam his weight back on top of him and pin his wrists above his head. Todd could smell the other boy's blood as it smeared onto his shirt.

He turned his face away panicking, and felt Kurt's fangs brush against his neck, down to the skin of his shoulder where the points dug in painfully, warning him.

Todd was gasping like a fish, shuddering hard. He'd drawn Wagner's blood, and now the guy was going to bite him, just as hard if not worse. Able to feel Todd's pulse hammering against his mouth, Kurt paused and didn't bite down After a moment, he pulled back to lean over the smaller boy, still straddling Todd's chest and holding his wrists above his head. Though bleeding himself, though still angry, Kurt hadn't broken the boy's skin.

Cautiously, still trembling, Todd opened one amber eye and peered up at Kurt. The boys remained frozen, Kurt breathing hard and Todd scarcely breathing at all. Kurt licked his dry lips and swallowed. "You take it back? What you said?" he asked hoarsely.

". . . yeah. Whatever. Sure." Todd was staring at Kurt as if he'd never seen him before. Something seemed to be struggling to get out.

Kurt got off him warily, feeling slightly uncomfortable with Todd's sudden surrender. He knew Todd had wanted to fight him. Hell, he'd goaded Kurt into it right from the start. His face and his arm throbbed, but strangely enough Kurt felt better; he was less tense and his mind was clearer than it had been all day.

He'd call Amanda tonight. They'd talk and he was sure everything would be fine.

Kurt looked around for something to stop the bleeding and settled for a wad of tissues from a box adhered to the wall beneath the light switch. The wounds were superficial, causing a lot more blood than seemed necessary; they'd be scabbed over within a day. When he next glanced at Todd, he startled.

The boy was curled around himself, arm over his face and shaking violently. Kurt hesitated, then moved to kneel next to him. "Tolensky?" Never to his recollection had Todd done anything but spit insults and glower after a lost fight. Kurt was at a loss as for what to do. "I'm sorry, alright? I - I wouldn't have really bitten you."

Tolensky was always _fine_ after a fight. Always fine. "Todd?"

"Sh-Shut up," Todd managed to hiss after a few seconds. He still had his arm hiding his face.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, helplessly. "Do you want me to go?"

"No."

"Alright, then I'll -" Surprised, Kurt broke off and looked down at him. _No?_

"Stay," Todd croaked. He curled further in on himself. His voice seemed pitifully small.

"I'll stay," Kurt promised. He settled next to him, keeping watch. For long minutes Todd didn't move, didn't say a word; the silence subtly began to drive Kurt crazy. He didn't know what to say.

"I don't wanna fucking _change_," Todd managed to bite out after what seemed like an hour or more. "I thought I was done. I thought I was fucking _done_."

Kurt stared at him, feeling horrible for the surge of sudden relief, even as it was mixed with sympathy. It hadn't been because of him. _He_ hadn't done this to Todd.

His hand went to Todd's shoulder, squeezing gently and just being quiet for him. Thisgrief he could understand. Todd must've recognized that; maybe it was why he tried to fight Kurt instead of talk. He hadn't wanted to talk because he hadn't wanted to break.

Todd was talking now though, fast and disjointed and frightened. Kurt understood him just fine but he didn't know what to _do. _So he winged it. Hesitantly, Kurt's fingers traced across Todd's back. When the boy made no move to protest, they sought out muscles made tense by the fight and by Todd's distress and deftly began to work out the knots.

By slow degrees, Todd uncurled himself, still talking as if cursed to never stop and still hiding his face. "I d-didn't mean to break h-her things, y'know, Pietro just threw everything in the damn Jeep and they got broke. Okay, maybe I dropped it too, but only 'cause you startled me, and I didn't know there was _glass_ - and man she just . . . she just ripped into me and I n-never . . . I ain't never been so f-freakin' mad at a woman in my _life_ and I don't wanna be mad at _her_ 'cause Pops - Pops would - I don't wanna be that kinda _person_ -"

Kurt felt him tensing up, nearly undoing all of his handiwork.

"You aren't," he assured Todd. "I mean, you aren't a bad person just for getting mad at someone - even people you love. I occasionally want to smack my own sister and sometimes even Kitty up the side of her head, but that doesn't mean I'd do it."

"But I shouldn't get _this_ angry. I shouldn't want to hit her, but I . . . yesterday she tried apologizing. She ain't never done that before, but I still . . . I had to leave her before I took a swing, y'know? I had to actually _leave_."

His fingers sought the back of Todd's neck, rubbing at tendons wound tighter than guitar strings.

"Okay, but you _did_ leave," Kurt said. "You could've given in to satisfaction and taken a swing. You chose not to. That's the important bit."

"Nngh." Todd gave a half shrug.

"So . . . you said she 'ripped into you'?" Kurt prompted. Todd opened his eyes a crack, then closed them again and Kurt wondered if his question had been too prying.

He had his answer a scant moment later as Todd dully repeated what Wanda had said. Word for word, as if he'd memorized it. He probably _had_, Kurt realized. You never forgot something like that coming from a person you cared about.

Todd made a thin noise of protest and Kurt realized his thumbs were digging a little too hard into the base of his neck. He lightened the pressure at once, muttering an apology. Kurt was full of words he wanted to say, but most of them were quite rude and they concerned Wanda. Verbally tearing her a new one in front of the boy who still doggedly loved her would probably not help.

He wanted to find her, yell at her, shake her. He wanted to port her into this room and make her _look_ at what she'd done. Hell, if he had his way, he'd make sure everyone in the Institute knew what she'd said to Todd before the week was over and let the karma rumble.

Kurt knew already that he couldn't have his way, but maybe he could at least try to undo some damage.

"Even if you change physically, like the Professor says, it doesn't matter. If you're human then you're _always_ going to be human. The X-gene doesn't change that. Idiotic people don't either. There might be times even _you_ can think you're not human; you still can't change the fact you _are_ one."

It was a long while before Todd said anything, and Kurt had to lean close to hear it. He heard Todd swallow hard a few times afterwards, and watched the boy hide his face behind his arm again. Kurt stayed near him and lightly stroked his back, hands too cramped to rub the tension out of his muscles anymore. By then it was unnecessary; judging by his slower breathing, Todd was falling asleep next to him.

His thumb brushed across a patch of skin below his ear that felt rough and he moved aside Todd's hair to look. It was whiter than the rest of his skin and he frowned. Maybe it had been scraped in the fight? Weird place for a scrape.

Kurt raised his eyebrow at the sound of a soft snore; Todd was definitely in the land of the unconscious now, no question about it. Problem was he couldn't very well leave the boy on the cold floor.

Less than a minute later, Kurt reappeared with Todd above the bed and fell about half a foot onto the mattress. He bit back a yelp as his toe stubbed on something, then dug a hammer out of the sheets with his toes. What in the name of Sir Paul?

He nudged it further out of the way and set Todd down as gently as he could. Kurt even attempted to pull a blanket over him but gave up when Todd rolled onto his side with a snort and sprawled into a more comfortable position, tangling himself (and nearly Kurt) in both sheets plus blanket.

Kurt grumbled good-naturedly and picked his way over Todd's limbs to the edge of the bed, where he could port without accidental contact. He looked behind him and studied the other teen's face.

Tolensky didn't look beautiful when he slept. He didn't even look innocent. He just looked like Todd Tolensky: having a week of crappy days. Nothing special about him at all, no particular reason to reach over and tuck a few strands of greasy hair behind those overlarge ears.

Kurt pulled his hand back after a moment, not quite sure what he thought he was doing. There were certain students here that he felt a bond with, but he'd never have touched them while they were sleeping. That was just plain creepy. Inwardly scolding himself and yet unable to help giving Todd one last glance, Kurt turned his back and vanished.


	6. Chapter 6

Jamie Maddox was stuck doing laundry. With fifteen minutes left on the timer, he was perched on a washer with a comic book, waiting for the dry cycle to finish. Everyone did their own clothing at the Institute to keep things fair, but the sheets did not belong to anyone in particular. They still needed changed once a week, and there was a chore list on the cork board for who got to wash the linens and towels.

There wasn't much to complain about; washing linens was one of the easier chores to do at the Institute - you loaded the sheets up into the washer, put in soap, punched a couple buttons and waited for a while. Plus there was a soda machine in the laundry room and chairs to sit in and aside from the whirring machines, it was peaceful and quiet.

If there was anything that irked him about laundry, it was the part where he had to fold sheets. The sheets were long and he was not and making copies of himself to help with the folding generally only ended in disaster. The last time, three of his copies had decided to use the sheets to build a fort outside in the backyard, and the other two had transformed themselves into instant superheroes (or was it super villains? They'd been cackling maniacally down the hall, now that Jamie recalled). It had taken Jamie three hours to get folded what should have only taken one hour.

He sighed and closed the comic book as the buzzer sounded, then began to pull out the bunches of warm fabric. Pillowcases were dealt with first because they were easy. Then bottom fitting sheets because they were a bitch and he wished he could just roll them up into wads, except they wouldn't fit in the linen closet that way and he'd have to do it again.

The work was tedious and boring except for the exciting occasion of a bra falling out of the pile as he separated the linens. Jamie studied it, trying to guess who it belonged to, and decided to leave it on the table because he'd likely be murdered in his sleep if he tried to return it himself.

Finally finished, Jamie gathered the first pile in his arms and began to walk upstairs to the first-floor hallway. He'd almost made it when a blur shot past him, sending several pillowcases and sheet flying off the pile.

"ARGH!" Jamie set down his armload as carefully as he could and stomped over to the sheets, once again folding them. He carried them back to where he'd set his armload only to have the same blur shoot past him - the other way, knocking the entire pile in the hallway over and sending the creator of the blur down on his face.

"What the hell -" the silver-hair boy started, kicking the tangled sheets off him. He recovered and got up, glaring first at the sheets and then at Jamie. "Watch where you put stuff, huh squirt? Someone might get hurt." With that, Quicksilver sped off again.

Jamie stood with his mouth gaping open and staring at the hopeless mess of sheets tracked halfway down the hall.

"AAAAAUGH!" he ranted, kicking at them angrily.

"Yo, what's the problem?"

"Problem! Why would there be a problem! I've only spent all morning folding these things and I hate folding them and that guy just - AAARGH!" It took him a moment to register who he'd spoken to. Jamie looked at the thin boy leaning against the doorframe to the room he'd just walked out of. The Adhesive Incident room. What was he doing in there? Wait, he was a Brotherhood member wasn't he? Maybe he'd been trying to get high on dried glue. Jamie scowled at him. Todd appeared unconcerned, looking in the direction Pietro had vanished.

"Yeah, 'Aaargh' pretty much covers Pietro most days." Todd approached the laundry and picked up a corner of a sheet. He folded one to the other and frowned when the middle slipped out. He didn't know why he was doing it any more than Jamie did - just that he was tired of being in his room and maybe if he did something mindless like this he'd feel a bit less crappy.

Jamie watched him and stepped forward. "Here. You do it like this."

Between the two of them, they got the mess refolded and Todd helped him carry the sheets to the closet at the end of the hall. He was glad to know where the linen closet was - the dusty sheets weren't that comfortable to sleep on after all. Something was up with his skin; it was itchy as hell.

"So . . . Thanks. For helping. I guess you're not as bad as Scott says."

"Summers? Eh, I've said worse about him," Todd shrugged. He felt indifferent to what Jamie had just said; before that would have angered him. He felt beyond caring right now. Who gave a shit if Summers didn't like him? Nobody really liked Summers either. "So, you got anything else to do around here or something?"

"Um, well . . . you could help me carry the rest of it to the second floor. Then we could go hang out in the Rec room. We have video games."

That didn't sound terrible. "Sure."

Jamie was very happy to have the unexpected help, and because he was grateful, he didn't remark on Todd's strange skin flakings. He had several patches of pale white skin, small and irregularly round, on his face and neck. Even some on the back of his hands. Every other minute he seemed to scratch at them.

The rec room was mostly empty by the time he and Todd finished. Sam was practicing on his guitar in the window seat and barely looked up as he and Jamie came in. Jamie immediately set up the video game system, wanting to play Bust-a-Move against Todd, who admitted he'd only ever played it at the arcade once or twice.

The game was every bit as brainless as Todd remembered, and that was more than okay. He lost the first two, before Jamie had mercy enough to give him a few hints. Todd barely beat Jamie the third game, and then won the fourth, still absently scratching his throat with his fingernails.

He looked up when the door opened, accompanied by sobbing and turned to see Amara, dripping wet in her swimsuit and wrapped in a towel, fling herself in the corner of one of the couches. She dropped her forehead on the arm of it, crying audibly. Todd stared at her, noticing Sam put his guitar away in order to hastily retreat from the room.

"You're losing," Jamie warned him. "Oh. Never mind. You just lost."

"What's her problem?" Todd whispered, moving his head to indicate Amara.

Jamie glanced at the couch. "I didn't even see her come in . . . look, don't get involved. That couch that she's on? That's called the Drama Couch. Stay away from it and anyone who's on it, and you'll be a lot happier in life."

Todd stared at him. "Who fed you that crap and what flavor of crack did they sprinkle on it?"

"Roberto told me. After Amara almost fried him for trying to get involved."

"Yeah, well, I'm immune to getting fried by now, so I'm gonna go see what the matter is." Because if it was one thing Todd couldn't stand, it was a crying and miserable girl. He put his game controller down and approached the couch, ignoring Jamie's panicked hissing for him to come back before it was Too Late.

"Yo, Amara - right? What's the matter?" She hitched pulling away from the couch to wipe at her face, but said nothing. Todd sat on the arm, not backing away. "Look, I know you don't know me. And that it's hard to talk about stuff that bothers you to friends, when you think they won't understand. Some things are easier to talk about with people you don't know."

She looked at him, surprised. Todd was a little surprised too, he didn't know where this was coming from. Usually he would try to banter or tell jokes to cheer a girl up, which usually wound up with him getting slapped across the room, but right now he just didn't feel like being funny. "So . . . . you can talk to me about it. If it'll help."

Amara bit her lip and for a long moment, Todd thought she was going to tell him to go away. But finally, she spoke. "Tabitha used to live with you. You know her, right?"

Todd groaned. Oh yeah, he remembered Tabby. The girl who liked to barge on him in the shower. Who'd once painted his fingernails pink and sprayed perfume on him after he'd fallen asleep on the couch. He'd gotten a bad rash and lost his voice for a couple days from the perfume, but Lance had at least let him stay home so he didn't have to go to school with fingernail polish. "Yeah, I know her. What did she do to you?"

"Oh . . . well, nothing. I guess then you know how she swings?"

_Toward everything on two legs? _Todd almost retorted, but thought better of it. "All I know is she's gone out with girls and boys. She on girls now?"

"Yeah," Amara blushed. "Me. Or so I thought."

". . . so you thought?" he prompted.

"She . . . She moved out of her room to give it to Wanda. And I thought she said she would share a room with me. But instead, she moved in with Jubilee. I don't think they're doing anything, but I don't know! And she's been acting like nothing's happened - she still approaches me like . . . like always!"

Amara looked in danger of crying again. Todd rubbed the back of his neck, which turned to scratching. Damned skin.

"Uh . . . well, you ain't gonna figure her out if you don't ask her, that's for sure. I think yo jumpin' to conclusions. If she's actin' like normal, maybe she just thought it was for the best that you two weren't roommates. I mean . . . crap, Lance and Kitty love each other half the time, and the other half they fight. Yakitty yak yak, all night on the phone. Can you imagine if _they_ had to share a room?"

She looked thoughtful, biting her lip. "You really think Tabby's just . . . trying to keep us from fighting then?"

"Ain't sayin' that's what's goin' on. Just sayin' that it's possible. She shoulda talked with you about what she was going to do, though. So talk to her and figure out what's going on. Otherwise, yo just torturin' yourself for nothing, know what I'm sayin'?"

Damned freaking skin! Todd wondered if he should duck into a shower. No soap - just water. Maybe that would help soothe his skin.

Amara fiddled with her hands. "I . . . I didn't think it could be something like that. It just . . . now that I think of it, she usually doesn't think to tell me when her plans are going to change. Tabby's random like that." She smiled, fondly, before looking up at Todd. "Hey, thank you. You're a lot sweeter than Scott gave you credit for."

That was the second time today he'd heard something like that. Todd shrugged, not sure what to say.

"Wow," Jamie said, risking a peek over the couch. "Are you like the Girl-Whisperer or something?"

Amara glowered at him and tossed a pillow his way which Jamie ducked with a squeal. It hit the stack of games, making it wobble dangerously.

She turned back to look at Todd who was currently having a fit of laughter. Girl-Whisperer, his scrawny ass! He broke off with a wince as he felt another stabbing itch behind his ear. Todd scratched it, though more carefully; he was going to break his skin at this rate.

"Are you okay? Your skin looks kinda painful. Sunburn?" she guessed.

"Nah. It's . . ." Todd hesitated. Everyone was going to know sooner or later. He was saved from explaining at a shout from Jamie, who was now at the window.

"Fight! They're fighting!" he exclaimed, pointing down at the field.

A slight tremor shook the mansion and Todd sighed. "Fantastic." He got up and walked to the window with Amara following behind, clutching at her towel. Lance was butting heads with Bobby Drake over something or other - a soccer foul judging by the deflated ball with a spike of ice through it.

Wanda, Fred and Pietro were coming up to stand beside him, while Bobby was being slowly flanked by Scott, Jean, Roberto, and Kitty.

"It's a good thing you're up here with us instead of down there getting in trouble," Jamie said, looking at him. Todd said nothing, watching the display. He should be down there. He should be standing up for Lance no matter how stupid the argument was. Instead, he was hiding. Because he didn't want to be anywhere near _her. _

Wanda glanced around, as if wondering where he was. Not seeing him, she calmly turned back to pay attention to Summers, who'd gotten between Lance and Bobby and was lecturing. Like that was going to diffuse anything.

Todd turned away from the window, feeling wretched. He didn't want to fight with anyone, whether it was expected from him or not. Though he missed being around Freddy and even the other two boys, he couldn't approach them right now. In fact, the entire thing made him want to be alone again.

"Hey, so . . . you want to keep playing?"

" . . . Actually, I think I'm gonna hit the shower. I think I got poison ivy or something." Yeah. He _wished_ it was poison ivy.

Amara winced. "I've got some calamine lotion. Maybe it will help?" she offered. Todd glanced at her, surprised.

"And after you feel better, do you think you could come back and play something else? We have other games," Jamie interjected hopefully. Todd turned to stare at _him_, not used to anyone wanting his company.

"Uh, sure," he said, before he could think otherwise.

Jamie smiled at him. "Okay! Come find me when you're free." He went to put the controllers away as Todd slunk toward the door.

Amara didn't let him get away so easy. She all but led him to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet and pulling out a pink bottle of lotion. "There's the calamine lotion and here's some cotton balls. You look like you're going to need a lot." She rolled up his sleeve, looking at the white spots on his arms and frowning. Amara apparently had taken charge of his bath, and was now pulling towels out of the small bathroom closet, placing a washcloth and towel in his arms.

"You can use this soap - it's made from natural ingredients and exfoliates, so it should get rid of the peeling without further harshing on your skin. And it doesn't smell like anything, so don't worry about smelling like a strawberry-daiquiri because you won't."

Something about the peculiarity of the situation struck him. "Usually people would _rather_ I smell like a strawberry daiquiri," Todd joked. "Compared to the usual."

Amara looked at him quizzically, then took a sniff. "Why? You don't smell like anything. Maybe a little bit like wet grass, but nothing bad."

Todd blinked. "I don't?" He sniffed his shoulder. ". . . I don't."

She raised an eyebrow and giggled. "You're funny. Scott was totally wrong about you, wasn't he? Hey, so, I'll let you shower. And I'll go talk to Tabby. Thanks again."

"Yeah. Uh, no problem." He watched as the door shut behind her. He stared down at the towels in his arms and set them aside, picking up the soap. He tried to read the ingredients, but stood there instead, staring through the bottle in his hand.

He didn't smell. And he hadn't even showered. What the hell did that mean? Was this part of his mutation? Or would his smell return in a couple of days, worse than ever? Todd put the soap on the window ledge of the shower and stepped in, peeling off his clothing.

The water was every bit as wonderful as he imagined it would be, soothing his burning skin. The soap didn't soak into him, it was apparently made of mud or something, and had little beads in it. As girly as it was (he cringed to look at the bottle's delicate swoopy logo) he couldn't help but be surprised and grateful. Maybe he should buy some for himself; he could always take a permanent marker and black out the logo.

The dried skin was everywhere and it came off him within three rinses of the beaded soap, grossing him out. It was thin enough to go down the drain - he didn't know what he'd do if it clogged. Todd went through Herculean efforts to get his back and finally stole one of the back brushes he'd spied in the closet, figuring he'd rinse it out. Not like anyone could tell it was him if he didn't stink anymore.

The white dry patches were gone, leaving new patches of skin where they'd been, smoother and more sensitive than the skin around it. Todd touched one on his hip before leaning back into the water's spray, simply enjoying the moisture. He reluctantly turned the cool water off and dried off with a towel, less vigorously than usual. As much as he hated taking showers, this one had been oddly welcome.

He didn't even need the calamine lotion, though he made a note of where he could find some as he put it back into the medicine cabinet. Todd shook out his clothing, making a face at the grit he could feel in it. He really didn't want that against his skin. He got his jeans as clean as he could before pulling them on, then put the towels in the hamper before starting to his room with his shoes and shirt in hand.

Todd thought nothing of the odd glances he got walking downstairs. He ducked into the kitchen for a bite to eat and a soda, setting the rest of his clothes on a chair. The others hadn't come in yet - for all he knew they were outside still having a fight. He told himself he didn't care as he spread mayonnaise on some toast and piled turkey on it.

He nearly jumped a mile and a half when someone touched his shoulder. "What?" he yelped, spinning around. It was Kitty. She apparently had come through the wall or floor, moving silently. He hated that.

"I . . . _Tolensky?_ I thought you were someone else!" she stammered, stepping back. Todd raised an eyebrow.

"Who else would I _be_?"

"No, I mean . . ." she gestured helplessly with her hand, indicating all of Todd's body. When Todd continued to stare at her blankly, she heaved an exasperated sigh. "With your _spots_, or whatever those are!"

He froze. "S-Spots?" he asked, voice low with dread. He shakily held up a hand.

Spots. It had taken mere minutes for the patches of new skin to darken to a greenish-gray hue. On his pale skin, they stood out like stripes on a zebra. Todd made a funny little squeaking noise and dropped the knife with a clatter. He was shaking all over now, leaning heavily against the counter.

Kitty bit her lip, not sure what to do. "You mean you didn't _know_? You want me to like, get Lance or something?"

Lance . . . Lance would mean Pietro, followed by Fred, and then Wanda. Oh god, he didn't want her to see him like this. He wanted to find a hole and crawl into it and never come out again. "No," he rasped. "I . . . I'm just fine . . ." He dodged around her and snatched up his clothing, intending fully to go to his room and hide there until doomsday.

He ran head-on into Logan and stumbled back, staring up at him. Even with his shirt and shoes clutched to his chest, he knew the man could see what was wrong with his skin.

Logan looked at him, unfazed. He didn't ask any questions, for which Todd was grateful, but put his hand firmly on the boy's shoulder to prevent flight. "Think it's time we had that talk," he said, voice gentle. All Todd could do besides tremble, was nod.

* * *

Kurt stared at the phone in his hands, wondering if it was worth a second try. He'd made himself wait until evening, leaning against the headboard and idly flicking his tail. Every time he tried to think of someone other than Amanda, his thoughts flew like an arrow to Todd.

Maybe he should check on the boy. Maybe he should let Todd sleep. Maybe he should tell Xavier that Wanda was the cause of it all, though he really didn't see the point. Nothing could be done that would take her words back. The damage was done.

Apparently, it was so with Amanda. Should he have waited longer to speak to her? Kurt had been so elated when she had picked up the phone. He wouldn't have been if he'd known what she was going to say.

"Kurt, if this is you - I don't want to speak to you! I can't _believe_ what you said to my parents. If you'd rather we leave Bayville, then that's fine by me! We're going!"

"Amanda wait - I'm sorry! But your father had no right to frighten him like that!"

"He had no right to bust into our house! Why are you taking his side! You're even letting him and his friends move in with you! Did you even complain to your Professor about it?"

"Well, ja, everyone complained! But he's really not that bad -"

"He's the reason we're moving away! The reason we can't be together!" Amanda yelled and Kurt put the receiver away from his ear, wincing. "Because my parents think all mutants are like _him_!"

"Well, tell them that isn't fair! You of all people should know how unfair that is!"

Amanda's voice was cold. "What do you mean?"

"Okay, if a black guy broke into a store, does that mean all black people are criminals?" Kurt countered.

"I don't know. Does it?" she iced.

"Oh for - Amanda! You know what I'm trying to say!" he yelped. Maybe he shouldn't have brought race into this. "For another example, just because I am from Germany, that doesn't make me a Nazi!"

"Don't, Kurt!" she snapped, sounding close to tears. "It's not the same thing! What hurts me is that you took his side and said you'd rather see us leave Bayville than stand another second of Toad being scared of my father!"

"He was panicking because he was caught in a second manifestation - his powers are starting to change on him again. I didn't realize it at the time - I thought your father had pushed him over the edge or something! I was angry!"

"Well I'm angry too, Kurt! I really don't care about Toad or what he's going through, but apparently you care about it more than me. More than _us_. So you just do whatever you want to do, and leave me out of it! Goodbye!"

She'd slammed the receiver. Kurt had considered throwing it against the wall in frustrated retaliation, but all he could do was stare at it in his hand. He stared until his vision became blurred and rolled to lie on his side hiding his face in his elbow.

After a long moment, he redialed her number and pressed the receiver to his ear. It rang until it hit the answering machine. He hung up, and tried again. This time it just rang endlessly; she had turned off the message-recorder.

Kurt tossed the phone aside and curled further into a ball.

* * *

Logan was less after-school-special than Todd had initially feared. Not that he thought the man screamed of any such thing, but he'd been mortally afraid to show any sign of weakness around the Canadian - which Todd suspected he'd do the moment someone spoke kindly to him. Logan didn't necessarily remind him of Pop in mannerisms, but he was strong and probably just as quick.

Logan had led him to the garage where he was working on his bike and gestured to the fridge. "Want a coke?"

Bewildered and out of his depth, Todd would have agreed to chilled olive juice if it was offered. He retrieved a soda from the fridge and looked hesitantly at Logan, not sure if the man wanted one as well.

Logan picked up a soda he already had open and took a drink. Todd closed the fridge and sat down on the bench, surprised to find out how thirsty he was as he drained half the can.

"You wanna come over here and take a look at this?" Logan asked, indicating his bike. "Heard you weren't half-bad with machines."

"Where'd you hear that?" Todd asked. It was true, but he hadn't told any of the X-geeks.

"From Kitty, who heard it from Lance, after you helped him work on that hunk of junk he calls a Jeep."

Todd grinned shakily. "It's not that bad of a car, yo. Just needs a couple new parts. And a new engine too."

"Oh, is that all?" Logan asked wryly. He stayed back while Todd approached the bike, body tense as if expecting attack. He noticed a few things wrong - a burned out spark plug, a few coils that should be replaced. Otherwise, the bike wasn't impossible to fix.

He mentioned as much to Logan, who grunted in approval. "You know what you're talking about. Help me with this, and then maybe we can fix the Jeep later, provided nothin' else gets broken around here." Logan said this with an air of inevitability.

Todd eventually relaxed around him and as he handed Logan tools, the man was content to talk mechanics with him and little else. Todd felt comfortable enough to start asking questions.

"So . . . about the drills. Am I really supposed be getting up to do 'em?"

"Up to you, flycatcher. If you think you're up to them, go for it. Just so you know, your friends have been pitching a fit that you get to sleep in and they don't. If you're on the outs with them, this ain't makin' it any better."

"Yeah, I know," Todd said lowly. "I . . . I guess I can't avoid them forever."

"Do you want to?" Logan asked simply.

"No. Maybe. Yes." Todd was obviously conflicted. "Not all of them. Just . . . there's a couple I don't wanna deal with right now."

"So then approach the ones you do want to talk to. They're not attached at the hip. We gave them different rooms, and I _know _you can get to a window."

Todd flushed. "Yeah . . . Guess I can talk to Freddy." But not tonight. "You don't suppose Kitty's gone an' told everyone about me?"

"Maybe she has. Ain't like you're gonna hide in your room forever. By the way, nice job with the furniture."

At Logan's praise, Todd smiled. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Logan answered, "Yes, you can borrow a drill, but only if someone's there who can get you to the infirmary in case of an accident. And I'm only letting you do it because you know your way around tools."

"Alright! Can I have Fuzzy?"

Logan looked at him oddly. "You'll have to ask him, not me."

"Right," Todd flushed. "I just . . . didn't know if you'd let me pick." Having Scott watch over him wouldn't be as fun. The jerk would probably flip his lid at what Todd had already done. Nothing in his bedroom made sense, which was partly why Todd liked it so much.

"Surprised you're getting along with him now. Used to be you needed a bucket of water to break up your fights," Logan said easily, popping in a new spark plug.

Which reminded him. "Hey, do I smell?" Todd asked, seemingly off topic. Logan looked at him quizzically. "Like, you know . . . do I stink?"

"No. You don't stink. But you do have a smell. Like grass and rain and teenaged boy. With a hint of Natural Earth-Moves Exfoliating body wash."

Todd swore under his breath. Logan laughed.

"Relax, kid. I only know cause Half-Pint just about stuffed the friggin' tube up my nose yesterday. She says I should use it instead of the Lava soap. Better for the environment or somethin' like that." Logan finished with the bike and got up to stretch. "Well . . . Think that's it for the night. I'll test it tomorrow."

"Yeah, don't kill me if you bite the dirt, kay?" Todd asked, mostly teasing. Logan looked at him.

"Won't kill you," he said. "Although . . . if you have some free time tonight, maybe you should talk to Elf."

"About my room?"

"Nah. Not about that. From what the Professor's told me, makin' up with Amanda didn't go so well."

Todd blinked. Part of him sneered that he didn't care, but it wasn't really a part that he listened to anymore. It was the same part that had insisted he should be down on the field getting into Scott's face, right beside Lance.

Despite their differences, Kurt had been there beside him earlier today, when he'd needed it. And Kurt wouldn't be having any trouble with Amanda if it wasn't for him.

"Maybe I shouldn't be talkin' to Wagner," he said quietly, fiddling with the tab of his empty soda can. Logan almost said something, then stopped, realizing that Todd wasn't finished voicing his thoughts.

He was proven right when Todd took a shaky breath and looked up at Logan. "Can . . . you give me a ride to Sefton's house?" Todd asked quickly, before he could lose his nerve.

Logan's eyes held only approval as he nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

The cool air of the evening had not been solely responsible for the shivering of Logan's passenger behind him as the bike blurred past streets and avenues. He could hear Todd's uneven breathing over the hum of the motorcycle and wondered if the kid was really going to go through with his suggestion. Logan wondered if it was fair to make him.

The kid had only just received two manifestations in less than twenty-four hours - he couldn't be perfectly adjusted to either of them yet. But Todd had insisted back at the Institute and Logan had not tried to undermine his determination.

Of all the Brotherhood, Logan had not expected Todd to be the first to volunteer doing something like this, even though he knew Todd wasn't doing it for the sake of being right. He was doing it for Elf, to repay a debt. Logan wasn't any less impressed by that fact.

Of course, Todd had voiced his idea in the relative safety of the Institute. He seemed to be rethinking it as Logan parked on the side-street next to Amanda Sefton's house. Todd swallowed and woodenly climbed off the bike. The kid looked paler than normal, the white skin sharply contrasting with his markings. Logan was definitely going to advise him to sleep as soon as they got home.

"Alright?" he asked Todd, who hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Still doin' it," he muttered and let go of the seat, walking to the front door. Logan watched, silently wishing him luck.

Margali was the one who opened the door and the moment she did, Todd felt all the spit in his mouth dry up from fright. Not for the first time that night, his mind raced in a endless circle of panic. What was he _doing_? What if they called the police on him? Would Logan get him out of here?

". . . can I help you?" Mrs. Sefton asked, neutrally. She knew who Todd was. He knew that she knew, but he stood up a little straighter and met her eyes.

"Y-Yeah. Uh . . ." _Brilliantly spoken_, he sneered at himself after an awkward pause followed the two words. "My name's Todd Tolensky. An' I'm . . ."

_And I'm doing this for Wagner, right? Not 'cause I like him or anything, but 'cause I _owe_ his sorry ass. So jus' _do it _already! _

Another deep breath. "I just came over to apologize, kay? And to explain stuff. Like for instance, how you shouldn't be angry at fuzzbu- I mean, Wagner. Kurt Wagner."

"I know who you mean," Margali said patiently. Todd bit his lips against a swear word, knowing it probably wasn't a good idea right now, as frustrated with himself as he was.

"Ain't none of this situation is his fault. It's mine," the boy said. He felt like he was going to explode from stress. At the moment, it didn't seem like such a bad thing. He wished he could stop sweating.

Margali appeared to reach a decision. "Why don't you come inside? Then we can all talk this over together." She held the door open for Todd and it seemed as though he was walking through thick mud as hard as his body tried to obey his base instinct - which was to run, screaming wildly, all the way back to the Institute.

Sheer stubbornness and the knowledge that he'd never live it down forced Todd to comply, and once again, he was in the Sefton's living room. It was reconstructed and cleaned up long since the last time, but he couldn't help but notice that the chandelier had not been replaced and the piano had a cover over it.

Something squirmed in his gut. Guilt? Possibly. Margali offered him a place to sit while she got her husband and daughter, but Todd was far too nervous to take it right away. Amanda came out with her mother, eyes red and puffy, sitting down with a glare in every direction but his. Mr. Sefton followed and the sight of him very nearly required Todd to sit down - whether there was a chair behind him or not. He put a hand on the back of the armchair nearby to steady himself.

This had been a horrible and stupid idea. It was hard and it was terrifying, two things that Todd had spent most of his life avoiding. He wished absurdly that he'd asked Logan to come in here with him, just to have someone there who was on his side.

Todd watched them sit, pale eyes flicking from Margali to her husband to Amanda, who finally turned the full force of her glower onto him. He looked at Margali again, she seemed the safest to focus on.

"I . . . uh . . . so, I know it all happened a few months ago," he struggled to get out. _You owe this to Gecko-boy_, he reminded himself again and gleaned a small kernel of courage from it. "But I wanted to say first that I didn't . . . I wasn't trying to destroy your house."

"Well, you sure did a good job at it," Amanda retorted. Margali shushed her.

"Was there a reason you targeted our house for such a fight?" she asked. Todd shook his head. He noticed she had a hand on her husband's knee and trembled. Was it cautionary - lest the man get up and try to hit him?

"No, not really. I was just after his watch. The holowatch that makes him look human?"

"He _is _human," Amanda snapped hotly and Todd felt every fiber in his body flinch - both at her tone and at his own poor choice of words.

"I know that," he said weakly. _Unlike you_, she may as well have added. Todd was again made painfully aware of the spots on his face and hands. "That's not what I meant. I was after the watch because . . . There was this girl I was trying to look . . . passable for. And at the time I kinda sorta hated Wagner. I figured I wasn't screwing him over too bad if he was here. I dunno, I figured if you liked him the way he was, then your parents wouldn't have that big of a cow either."

"Well, after you destroyed our living room, I was never supposed to see him again," Amanda said coldly.

"H-Hey, like I said, I wasn't going for that! I just wanted to jump in through the window, snatch it away and leave peacefully. I wasn't expecting him to panic and fight me!" Todd protested.

"Kurt did panic - he was terrified of showing his true self to my parents!"

Margali tried shushing her again, but Mr. Sefton stopped her. Some things were just beyond being polite about and Amanda needed to get hers out in the open rather than keep it bottled up.

Todd opened his mouth to argue his point, but stopped. He wasn't here to ask their forgiveness for himself. He sighed. "You're right. I did wrong. I was only thinkin' of getting what I came here for. And he was only defending himself from the reaction he feared from yo parents. So you shouldn't be angry with _him_," Todd muttered. "Be mad at _me_, but not both of us."

Mr. Sefton spoke up finally, and the sound of his voice made Todd quake again. He covered for it by leaning against the side of the armchair and acting casual.

"Kurt claimed that you weren't his friend and that what happened that night would never happen again if we gave him another chance. But here you are, speaking for him." Sefton raised an eyebrow. "What changed?"

It was an unexpected question. Todd bit his lip, wondering if there was an answer that Mr. Sefton wanted to hear, but he couldn't think of anything. He gave up and decided to tell the truth.

"I _didn't _like Wagner. I don't know why, we always had so many things in common - but I jus' couldn't stand him, y'know? He had everything I didn't. Friends, parents, a nice place to live, a . . . well, a holowatch that made everything easy. He could make himself look like anyone he wanted to and he didn't get beat up, hardly ever." Todd felt like he was rambling, but Mr. Sefton had a strange look of understanding on his face.

"It just didn't seem fair, did it? So that's why you didn't think twice about possibly making a mess out of his night?" the man asked.

Todd nodded, miserable. "I guess I didn't care any more about wreckin' his life than your living room. But besides all that . . . he helped me anyway. I still couldn't impress Wanda -" he paused at a twinge of pain that saying her name caused him, "But things went real bad when she was kidnapped later that day."

Margali gasped. "What?"

"No - don't worry. She's okay now. It was . . . It's complicated, but the bottom line is, Kurt helped me get her home. I needed him to teleport us to where she was being held," Todd said, carefully not mentioning that the kidnapper was Wanda's own father and the man he'd been working for previously. Already he suspected he'd said far too much, judging by the dark frown on Mr. Sefton's face. He attempted to switch tactics.

"There's somethin' you gotta know about Fuzzy, even as mad as he was at me, he still agreed to help me rescue her. And when I couldn't talk earlier today, he was there for me again. He's a better guy than I gave him credit for. We ain't best friends or nothin', but this is twice now that I caused you guys to turn your backs on him. He don't deserve that, yo."

Margali had stood up, going to look at Todd's markings. He pulled back a little, but let her examine him. "These mutations that have been on the news . . . I didn't know they just kept happening. Is it painful? Is Kurt going to change more as well?"

The concern in her voice was like nothing Todd was used to. He simply stared at her, at a loss, before shaking his head. "No . . . not him. Just me right now."

Mrs. Sefton looked at him, seeming to make up her mind. She turned to face her daughter. "Amanda, I believe we should give Kurt another chance. _All _of us." Margali gave her husband a meaningful glance. He sighed and nodded, relenting.

"Your mother's right, Amanda. Though I'd still rather move, especially in the light of this kidnapping business-" (Todd winced visibly at that) "I'll wait until you and Kurt have a chance to talk things out. Maybe we have been too hasty," Mr. Sefton admitted.

Amanda frowned, not looking up from her hands. "I don't want to talk to him."

"Why not?" Todd burst out, before either of her parents could. "You really that mad at him?"

"No . . . well, yes. But it's just . . . lately, I'm beginning to think that I could be _anyone_. So long as he h-has a girlfriend," she started. Her lip trembled and she covered her eyes, starting to cry. Awkwardly, Mr. Sefton put an arm around Amanda's shoulders and Margali went to sit next to her.

Todd was watching her with a mixture of confusion and frustration. "Yo, what the flaming fff-?" He wisely abandoned the swear word at an arched eyebrow from Margali and cleared his throat. "Hey listen - you got it all _wrong_! Fuzzy's crazy about you! I still got flippin' _scars_ from the time he pounded me into the rug 'cause I messed up your house-date and everything!

"He goes on about you _all the time_ - I've seen you at school and you guys are so cozy together it's _disgustin'! _People look at you and go 'awww' and they get this real moronic look on their faces, like they're watching freakin' kittens and bunnies fall asleep together in a bowl full of heart shaped candies! Shame on you both, droppin' everyone's IQ with your sappy googly-eyes. _Blech!_" Todd ended his rant with a horrible face.

Amanda had gone from crying to laughing through her tears. She wiped them away. "Really? You're not just saying that?"

"Lady, I wouldn't torture myself like that for kicks! Don't you _ever_ require me to say _anything_ that mushy again. This is twice now I had to stop a girl from cryin' over nothing," he added indignantly. Jamie's words came back to haunt him, because Amanda only giggled again.

"Sorry," she said, gratefully taking the Kleenex that her mother handed her. "I guess maybe I have been a little stupid."

Todd opened his mouth to say something scathing, but decided it would be best not to push his luck. He shrugged instead. Amanda's next words lifted his hopes.

"I'll call him tonight. Hopefully he'll still talk to me."

"I'll kick his sorry butt if he doesn't." Todd meant it; what he'd been through tonight meant that Kurt in no way got to whine and hide in a corner instead of forgiving his girl - who was perfectly willing to forgive _him_. God knew what he'd do to get a chance like this with Wanda.

His features saddened for a moment, but he quickly replaced it with a look of boredom and he made the mistake of looking at the chandelier that was no longer there. Guilt gnawed at him again. What was _happening_ to him lately?

"Uh, so . . . I don't have any money, but if I did I . . . I'd give you some," he said awkwardly. Mr. Sefton shook his head, looking vaguely ashamed.

"Our insurance covered most of it. What's important is that you came to apologize. That took a lot of courage and . . . I must apologize myself for my behavior toward you earlier." Mr. Sefton got up from the couch and it took every inch of Todd's self control not to cower down and cover his face with his arms. He stared blankly at the man's offered hand before hesitantly shaking it.

Mr. Sefton made no mention of his slight shaking or clammy skin, but his expression was a little concerned. Todd was still a little unnerved when Amanda got up next and actually hugged him. He was sure he let out a squeak.

"I think you really _are_ a good friend to Kurt At least right now," she said. "And that's something he needs. Thank you for coming to talk to us. For talking some sense into me."

"Eh . . ." Todd looked down, feeling warm and uncomfortable at the same time. "Just 'cause I can't be with my girl don't mean he don't get to be with his," he said lightly, or tried to. He'd meant it to be a casual sort of joke, but the words seemed to gang up and punch a hole through his gut. Todd managed a forced smile. "Well, guess I better go an' let you all get to bed or eat dinner or whatever."

The Seftons saw him to the door and pleasantly wished him goodnight. Logan had pulled around, able to hear the door opening from the side of the house where he'd been waiting with the bike. _Fuckin'-ay_, _my chariot has arrived, yo, _Todd thought gratefully. He felt dizzy and heartsick and he wanted nothing more than to go to bed.

Logan waited for him to climb up behind and took off once the boy was secure. He felt a light pressure in the middle of his back, as though Todd was hiding his face there. The boy's breathing was too quick and shallow to indicate that he was dozing off - which would be a danger on the road. Light tremors occasionally shook his body.

It had been a long awful day and Todd was finally feeling all of its effects at once. Logan wisely said nothing, keeping a vigilant silence on the way home.

* * *

When the phone rang the first two times, Kurt had ignored it. He didn't stir from the covers he'd curled under, not until Jean's voice informed him that he really, really wanted to take this call. And it turned out she was right.

He stared at the phone in his hand yet again, wondering if this was all some kind of twisted dream and he was going to wake up any second now. Feeling light-headed he got up and went to stand on the balcony of his room.

Amanda had forgiven him, and of course he had forgiven her. She'd even apologized for trying to jump on him earlier, which he really did appreciate, and had told him that she wasn't going to pressure him on that front anymore. That it was sweet he wanted to treat her as a lady and she should have valued that above all else. The phone call had taken maybe about thirty minutes - both were tired and stressed out and they had tomorrow to talk all day if they wanted.

What Kurt couldn't really get his mind around was that it was because of _Tolensky_ that Amanda had called to make up with him. She had sworn it was the truth. Though Todd had been jumpy and nervous around her father (not that Kurt blamed him; he still resented Mr. Sefton a bit for that morning - even after hearing how the man apologized to Todd), he'd impressed the older man considerably. Enough to be willing to give Kurt another chance.

He let the night air cool him down. Summer heat with fur was unbearable, but tonight seemed to be one of the miraculously nicer July ones. He breathed out in relief and then spotted Logan's bike pulling around into the back driveway. With a passenger.

Kurt smiled and ported down to meet them.

* * *

Todd had gotten off the moment Logan slowed the bike down, almost before it had stopped moving. He snatched a towel and rubbed at his face. "Sweating like crazy," he said by way of explanation. "That was nuts."

Logan caught the lie, but accepted it without question. Todd's voice was deceptively even. "Gettin' late. Think I'll be turnin' in. How 'bout you?" Logan asked casually.

"Yeah, sure. Been a long day." That was certainly an understatement. Todd stretched, glancing at Logan who was calmly taking off his leather jacket. "Thanks for the ride." _And for stayin' there in case the shit hit the fan. _

"You did good, Flycatcher. Don't think I need to tell you how important that was to Elf."

"Eh," Todd shrugged, unused to praise. Easier to ignore it for now. "Hopefully it'll all work out and they won't all move to Alaska or something."

"Maybe you should ask Elf," Logan said wryly. "He'll have the latest news."

"I . . . I gotta get to sleep. He's probably -"

"Right behind ya," Wolverine grinned. Todd glanced over his shoulder, wondering how he hadn't even noticed the sudden stench of brimstone and sulfur. Obviously he needed sleep. He was having messed up thoughts and he was walking a thin wire between his emotions.

"Hey, dawg - did she call ya already-ooof!" Todd was suddenly the recipient of a bear hug. A fuzzy blue bear-hug that not only lifted him off his feet but spun around a few times. Todd went limp, squeezing his eyes shut as the world nonsensically tilted for a few moments.

"If I ralph all over you, it's your own damn fault, yo," he mumbled, pressing his forehead against Kurt's shoulder without realizing he was doing it.

"Vas?" Kurt broke off his excited rambling and pulled back, studying Todd. All his joy was forgotten as he looked the frog-boy over. Todd was bearing spots - pale skin setting them off vividly. His eyes were a pale yellow and dilated and he leaned into Kurt's grip on his thin shoulders as if too tired to support his weight.

He'd had another manifestation after Kurt had left him? Had Todd woken up to this? Had he been through it alone? Kurt found himself about to ask whether Todd was alright but realized what a stupid question it was. All this, and he'd still gone to the Seftons to apologize. For _him. _

Kurt felt like an idiot. "I'm . . . I'm sorry. I should have noticed sooner you weren't feeling well. Wouldn't have babbled so much at you." Another twinge of guilt; Todd hadn't needed to hear how happily he was reunited with Amanda right now either.

Todd shook his head then seemed to regret it. "Don't - Don't worry 'bout it. You babbled mostly in German, so . . . s'cuse me, I gotta go lay down." The dizziness was slightly getting worse. He hoped he didn't have any more dreams tonight, about frogs or otherwise. He'd settle for some nice boring darkness.

Kurt didn't offer to walk him to his room; he simply was there, a hand on Todd's shoulder if he started to stumble too far in one direction. It was at least half-past nine - students who were still up were either in the Rec room or in their own. Nobody was roaming the hallway or at least not the one on this level.

When they reached his door, Todd wearily looked up at Kurt. His skin looked more palely jaundiced than usual in the hall's light. "Well, this is where I get off."

"Goodnight. I'll tell Scott not to bother you if you're feeling unwell tomorrow morning."

Todd smirked. "Nah. Send him over. That way I can get up to answer the door, puke all over him and then go straight back to bed. Might earn me back some points with Lance an' the others."

Kurt shook his head, laughing softly. Todd was just the same as always; 'disrespectful' was synonymous with his name. Though the look on Scott's face _would_ be priceless. He frowned as he noticed Todd still slightly swaying in the doorway.

"I'm gonna try and talk to them tomorrow. Logan . . . he said it'd be a good idea. M'gonna try it. But not Wanda. Not yet."

"Todd . . . You're really tired. You should go to sleep, alright?" Kurt said gently, holding him still by the shoulders again.

"'Kay . . ." Todd made no move to go inside. He looked up at Kurt and for the briefest of moments, Kurt could see how terrified and lost Todd truly felt. It was there in his eyes, and then gone as quickly as it had come. Todd was working quickly to mask it, though there was a tremble in his voice still. "G'night, Fuzzy. See ya tomorrow," he muttered and walked through his door, shutting it between himself and Kurt before the latter could say anything.

He put his blue hand on the door, swallowing. Inside there was silence. Should he have gone inside and talked to Todd? The boy seemed to want to be alone, but still . . .

_Professor_, he called. But the man seemed to know what was going on already.

_It's alright, Kurt. He needs some time to himself. What's important is that he knows he can approach you when he needs to._

The words didn't do much to reassure him, although they clarified that Todd wanted to be left alone. Kurt drew his hand away from the door and walked quietly to the end of the hall, porting to his room.

* * *

He had fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, and dreams had come yet again - however desperately unwanted they were. Heavy boots in a field of dead grass - uneven sliding of moss-covered rocks beneath his feet - a watery blackness surrounding him, then looking down to see the jagged-toothed open mouth of a monster hurtling up to clamp its jaws around his body.

Todd bolted upwards, shrieking hoarsely. His voice didn't carry far; his throat was parched and dry. Todd drew his legs up to his chest, shaking hard and trying to work up spit to swallow. He waited for the images to go away but the room was as dark as the inside of his eyelids and they lingered. Thirsty, alone, exhausted and too afraid to sleep, he got out of bed and climbed down until his feet touched the floor.

His hand groped along the wall until he found a light switch and he hesitated, suddenly too terrified to flip it on. What if something new had developed while he slept? It seemed to be happening between a matter of hours and he had no idea what time it was. Todd felt for the doorknob and couldn't quite find it in his panic. He sunk down to wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and suddenly they stung.

Todd's whole chest seemed to seize up and he couldn't swallow. As hard as he tried to fight it, the first of many deep sobs began to rack his body. He'd tried to be brave. He'd had lapses today, true, but he'd managed to mostly hide the evidence. Now there was nobody around to suck it up for. Nobody around at all to see his weakness.

Still, even when alone, Todd could not remember a time when he'd cried like this. Maybe it had something to do with how exhausted he was. Maybe he was finally crying over Wanda. He hoped so. Let this be the last time he ever cried like this - over anything. Even in a dark room by himself, it was humiliating.

Todd pressed his mouth against his arm as he curled down, hoping to stifle the noises he was making - too many were tinged with hysteria. At length, he calmed and though he felt thirstier than ever, he felt as though less pressure was pent up in his chest. Slowly, Todd uncurled and opened the door, walking out into a dark hallway. He still had no idea what time it was.

He wandered until he came to a bathroom and started to enter, wanting water. Todd stopped himself, seeing the glint of a mirror. No. He did not want any mirrors right now - he could deal with it in the morning. The boy kept on walking until he found the kitchen. For the first time, he realized the refrigerator was one of those fancy ones that had the ice and water right in the door. Todd filled up a glass and drank it empty.

The simple cool water was like a balm to his throat. He splashed his face with it, then got another glass and downed it. Todd put the glass in the sink and then was drawn by the sight of apples, plums and oranges in a bowl on the counter. He snatched up a black plum and bit into it, pulling open the fridge. It had been a day without end - as far as he was concerned it was still ongoing. Todd couldn't remember eating since breakfast and he was starving.

He liberated some string cheese, a box of left over Chinese fried rice, a pork bun, and some grapes. The food barely even made it to the table before he'd tucked it away. Todd leaned back when it was all gone, feeling calmer if not better. He wanted to sleep. It was two in the morning, as the microwave crowed, and no way in fuck was he going to stay up until dawn to commence The Day from Hell, Part II.

Todd didn't want to fall asleep here. Distractingly, the moonlight played through the kitchen window and left patterns on the table through his water glass, lessening his motivation to get up. His full stomach wasn't helping matters either. Todd forced his eyes open and made himself get up, throwing away the carton and trash from his meal.

He paused on the way to his room, feeling the childish need to wake someone else. Just to have them there. In the past, this rare occasion would have involved Freddy or Lance. But right now he wasn't sure if it was cool with them. And it was two in the morning. Summers would be making his rounds at five, knowing him.

Running a hand through his hair, Todd changed direction and soon the carpet beneath his bare feet became grass. He turned to get his bearings as he walked backwards, angled few yards to the left and then jumped, landing neatly on a balcony. It was a July night, not particularly hot, but not too cool either.

Todd was perfectly alright with sleeping under the stars, as long as he was near someone. Strange that someone apparently had to be Wagner, but he was the only one who Todd really trusted right now. So he'd sleep up here, then be gone when the sun rose. There'd be no reason for Kurt to be on his balcony at the butt crack of dawn, he'd be too busy trying to wake himself up for the Danger Room drills. Which Todd would apparently be avoiding _again._

He sighed as he settled down on the cool concrete floor, pillowing his head on his arm. Up here, the moon cast only the harmless shadows of a chair and small table with a potted aloe on top of it. Todd let his eyes drift closed, able to hear the faint snores of Kurt beyond the curtained doors. Thus reassured, he was soon snoring away himself.

* * *

**A/N: Didn't write as much as I wanted to this chapter - Pietro was supposed to debut and there were to be more froggies. Todd talking to the Seftons/ yelling at Amanda just turned out to be so many more pages than I thought it would. .; Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for sticking with me for this long - I promise there will be more! All your reviews are wonderful and very much appreciated. **

**On a down note: Apparently I gotta go back and reformat a lot of chapters because they took away my line breaks that separated scenes. *sigh* Meh. -.-;**


	8. Chapter 8

Kurt groaned and pulled the covers over his head as soon as he saw the clock on the bedside table. It was ten minutes to five. In eight minutes or less, Scott would begin knocking on doors, getting people up for the drills. Logan had always simply turned on the alarms and let people scramble. Scott, however, was thorough. He knew the Brotherhood would have ignored the alarms and slept in, and that was something he wasn't about to let by.

_So now the rest of us are getting punished too, _Kurt thought wryly. Sessions had ceased to be fun in any way since the Brotherhood were pestered to join in. It wasn't that there was a bunch of grumpy teenagers who clearly didn't want to be there (which wasn't that odd at five in the morning), but because Scott seemed to get super uptight the moment they all walked into the Danger Room. He was just as pissed as the Brotherhood that Toad was managing to skip out.

Kurt hadn't volunteered the location of the boy's room, though he wondered how long Todd was going to be able to keep this up. He was going to get it bad on all sides if he tried. Though Scott would honor the excuse that Todd wasn't well, Kurt was sure the rest of the Brotherhood wouldn't. If only Todd had _talked _to the Brotherhood instead of avoiding them. He said he would today and Kurt could only hope they'd be receptive and understanding, and not simply kick his ass.

Kurt groaned and tossed the covers away. He may as well get up and get dressed. Going back to sleep was impossible. Gone were the days when he could sleep in until nine - Scott's steady pounding always arrived at about five minutes after five o'clock on his door - whether it occurred in dreams or in reality. Kurt pulled on his uniform and did a few stretches to limber up. He settled into a yoga stance and heard the familiar crackle of vertebrae shifting. And also a snore.

Kurt blinked, and stayed in position, listening hard. The snore came again, light and nasal, from outside his room. His balcony. Kurt crept over and twitched aside the venetian blinds covering the glass door. Todd was curled up on the cold cement, one arm flung over his head and the other pillowed beneath his arm. There were a couple of leaves in his hair, fluttering in the morning breeze.

He opened the door quietly, relieved for Todd's sake to find that it was at least a warm breeze - though it would mean a miserably hot day for himself. Kurt moved silently to Todd's side and gently shook his shoulder. The boy curled tighter into a ball, mumbling nonsense. Kurt tried again but to no avail - Todd was out like a light. Maybe he hadn't slept all night.

Well, he couldn't just leave him out here, could he? Warm breeze or no, he should be resting in a bed. Kurt considered porting Todd to his own room. But what if Scott had found out where it was by now? And if not him, Kurt was almost certain that the Brotherhood would be pounding at every door trying to find him for a little 'chat'.

Best to leave Todd here. Scott would come knocking on his door and he could simply port out. It wouldn't occur to anyone that Todd was here, and he could get some real sleep.

Carefully, Kurt slid his arms beneath Todd's body (surprised and worried to find his skin cold despite the warm air; reassured only by the rise and fall of his scrawny chest) and lifted him up. He glanced over the balcony rail to make sure the coast was clear and then carried Todd inside his room, shutting the door behind him with his tail and gently settled Todd on the bed.

It was then he noticed the lack of smell. The boy's usual odor was gone, save for a faint trace of it in his clothing. Kurt tilted his head, curiously. Then he heard footsteps down the hall and a series of knocks. Scott's muffled voice told Tabby to get out of bed and Tabby's clearer voice told him precisely where he could shove it.

Kurt rolled his eyes and pulled the covers over Todd. The boy slept through even the noise of the argument escalating down the hall. He'd have to come back and check on Todd later. He didn't want anyone to knock on the door and jar him from the rest he looked like he needed. There were dark circles beneath Todd's eyes and his skin was still too pale.

Kurt hovered uncertainly and then backed away and ported into the hallway. Scott looked at him, irritated - though the elf knew it wasn't directed at him. "Good to see you're up at least. Go ahead to the Danger Room - apparently Tabitha's got someone staying over. Even though _it's against the rules to have boys in your room overnight!_" Scott shouted through the door, for Tabby's benefit.

"I don't have a boy in my room!" Tabby yelled back. "For fuck's sake, Summers!"

"Then why do I hear two people moving around? Toad, if that's you in there, don't even _think_ about hopping out a window!"

"What?" Tabby yelped. She flung the door open, glaring at Scott. "Are you freaking _kidding_ me? Toad? _Really?"_

Kurt winced, both at the words and at the shrillness in her voice. He hoped Tabitha wasn't going to start defending her virtue by means of the many insults he always heard circling Todd's name. The boy really didn't need to wake up to that.

"I'll have you know that I followed the 'no boys allowed' rule to the fucking _letter. _See for yourself." Tabby gestured behind her grandly, walking out into the hallway and crossing her arms. She pointedly kept her nose up, snubbing Scott. Amara followed, blushing and adjusting her uniform as if the spandex were somehow made of sheer material.

"Oh, you two. Sorry Tabitha. Guess you weren't fooling around."

"_Pfft_. Shows how much _you _know," Tabby smirked, and put an arm around Amara's shoulders. They walked down to the kitchen together, giggling.

Scott looked at Kurt haplessly. "What the heck was that about? I don't think I'll ever understand her."

_Considering you're two years older than me and you still say 'heck', no you probably won't, _Kurt thought to himself. He liked Scott too much to say that to his face, even though he wished his fearless leader would lighten up (and sometimes wake up; it was painfully obvious Tabby and Amara were an item but Scott somehow managed to convince himself that they were best friends having a sleepover every other night).

"Come on, let's just go," Scott grumbled when Kurt's only answer was a shrug.

* * *

"IsweartoGod, Iamgonna_strangle_thatlittleshit!" Pietro ranted, wiping the paint off his face and (unsuccessfully) off his clothing. Another Danger Room session, another disaster. They'd once again gotten their asses handed to them by the X-men, who clearly had them at a disadvantage during their paintball war.

Scott had evened the teams by placing a few X-geeks on the Brotherhood side, but he'd given them the newbie X-geeks who were basically useless. Sam Guthrie and Jamie Madrox couldn't have hit the broad side of a barn in Pietro's opinion. Rahne had been an okay shot, but Lance had forgotten she was on their team and had shot at her, which had prompted her to storm off and refuse to participate, ignoring all attempts on Jean's part to soothe her ruffled feathers.

They'd been unevenly matched and quickly; Wanda had been benched for making paintball guns explode in people's faces and Fred made too big of a target to last more than two minutes on the field. Lance had stupidly charged Summers and been blasted from all sides with green paint. Pietro had gotten out five before a lucky shot from Rogue had tagged him out.

He could have gotten more if Todd had been there - the boy was quick and had good aim. As begrudging as Pietro was to give him praise for anything, the practice session could have gone less embarrassing for them if he'd actually shown up. Even Scott had marked his absence, telling Lance that they needed to work on their team-skills and that included making sure all their teammates showed up.

Fucking hypocrite. First he was forcing the Brotherhood to play in all of their little X-men games (Xavier had actually made them uniforms. _X-man _uniforms. As if any of them would be caught dead wearing one of those) and now he was stating that making sure Todd showed up was the Brotherhood's sole responsibility.

"Whatthefuckishisproblem? Huh? ?" Pietro whizzed over to window, glared out of it, and then back to the mirror.

"Chill out, Pietro. Kitty told me Todd's going through some weird mutant phase or something. I'm actually worried about him," Lance muttered. He had red and green paint streaks in his hair. Kitty had probably made out with him after the session. _Ugh_, Pietro thought.

"Yeah, whatever. He should of come and talked with us, then. He's on our team, right? Then he should of told us," Fred scowled, kicking at a patch of threadbare carpet. He was hurt that Todd had been obviously avoiding him. "It can't be nothin' too serious or he'd be in the infirmary."

"Guys, I don't know. He's been acting weird. He cussed out Wanda, remember?"

Pietro did, and he bristled at the reminder. She'd been rather upset about it. Of course she denied it when he approached her, but he could tell she was bothered. "Yeah. That's _another_ thing I'd like to talk to him about actually," he growled, speech finally slowing down.

"You know, all of us ganging up on him isn't going to make him come back. Something must have driven him away from us," Lance reasoned. He knew that the something was a someone who's name started with 'W', though he wasn't crazy enough to say that in front of someone's brother. "Just let me talk to him, okay? Man to man, and at the very least maybe I can find out what the fuck is going on."

"Sure, Lance, go for it. If you can freaking _find_ him," Pietro snorted. He caught Freddy's eye. "In fact, maybe we'll split up and look for him. You find him first, then you can talk to him _your_ way."

"Pietro . . ." Lance said warningly. But the fast mutant was already out the door, with Freddy moving at a slower pace behind him. He gave Dukes an unreadable though slightly pleading expression. "Fred, if he finds Todd first . . ."

Fred glanced at him, frown softening. "He's my friend, 'kay? I'm pissed at him, but he's still my friend." Saying nothing more, he continued to follow Pietro outside.

Somewhat reassured, Lance went to the sink to finish cleaning up.

* * *

In the end, what woke Todd up was the soft click of leaves hurled against the window of the balcony. The morning breeze had kicked up into a wind, mercifully disrupting the forecast of an otherwise hot muggy day. It promised a thunderstorm on the way, either later that night or the next day.

He burrowed under the blankets, glad he was no longer outside on Wagner's balcony in the choppy weather. Wait a fuckin' second here . . .

Todd's eyes snapped open and he sat up in an unfamiliar bed. A quick look around at the photos and furniture confirmed that it was Wagner's room. His heart started up in a panic. How had he gotten in? Had he crawled in and collapsed in the guy's bed the moment it got windy out there? How had he shut the door after him?

Todd looked around wildly at the clock, at the bed. It was made up perfectly, except for the covers that were over his body. Nothing was knocked down or over, and Todd doubted that he would have had the ability to actually climbed up into the bed while asleep, let alone to pull the covers over himself so neatly. Plus, the balcony doors had a latch on them.

This left one option. Kurt had seen him outside. Had moved him inside, and put him in his bed. And Todd had somehow slept through all that. Embarrassment heated his face, though oddly so did something else he couldn't quite name. Pleasure, perhaps? Nobody had ever carried him to bed as a child, had ever tucked him in. If Todd had laid down to sleep on the dirty carpet when he was younger, that was exactly where he'd woken up the next morning.

Todd shook his head to snap out of it. As warm as he felt that Wagner had carried him to bed (aw shit, how bad did _that_ sound in his head?) he still felt unsettled that he'd managed to sleep so soundly through it. Todd didn't sleep soundly. At his house growing up, at the Brotherhood's house, the tiniest bump in the night or the quietest voice would often wake him. He'd lay for an hour or more, body tense, waiting for the signs that everyone was asleep (and going to stay asleep and leave him alone), before letting himself drift off again.

But someone actually picking him up and carrying him . . . Todd shivered. He was lucky it had been Kurt who found him. Obviously this second-manifestation crap was wiping him out to the point where he could sleep through _anything_, and that was goddamned scary.

In any case, he was sure he had better get out of here. Probably from the balcony; questions and eyebrows would rise to dramatic heights if he was seen leaving Kurt's room via door with rumpled clothing, messy hair and no shoes.

Todd got up and went to the mirror unthinkingly, finger combing his hair. He started at the spots and swallowed, determinedly looking down at the dresser after he'd finished. Kurt's mother and father were in a frame, perched on top of a box. There was a comb for his hair, a brush for the rest of him, and a few other pointless knick knacks. Also, the holowatch . . .

He stared at it numbly for a moment, and then picked it up. The time read six o'clock. Right now, Kurt was probably getting breakfast after the Danger Room session. Which meant he'd be back to his room soon. Or maybe not. Maybe he was planning on coming back later, giving Todd a chance to retreat with dignity. He chewed his lip, turning the watch over in his hands.

Before, he would have stolen this without hesitation, but he wasn't going to risk alienating himself from Kurt, as such an act would do. Todd held it though and then put it on. Just for a moment. Just for a brief moment.

The interface was easy to figure out. First was Kurt's usual image - the dark hair, teasing smile, dorky clothing. Todd changed it until he found one that he'd used in Arrowrose - the blond snowboarder. A few tweaks, and the blond hair was replaced with brown. His eyes were hazel, his posture straight and his teeth white and perfect. Todd looked down at the perfect hallucination of healthy, normal skin and then at last brought himself, trembling, to look up at the mirror.

Human. He looked perfectly human. No webbed fingers, no slightly curved spine, no spots. Even his eyes looked normal. He didn't look handsome - his nose still had that previously broken look to it, but Todd had left that in to make the illusion more believable - at least to him.

Would Wanda have loved him if he looked like this? Would anyone have? Todd reached to the mirror and touched his reflection's face.

He didn't register the soft click of the door opening or Kurt's soft footfalls on the carpet coming to a standstill. For a long moment, Todd stared at himself - until he caught Kurt's reflection in the mirror behind him. He gasped and fumbled to turn off the holowatch, spots and all reappearing. Todd turned his back on the image and looked at Kurt, frantic to explain himself.

"Dawg, I - I just wanted to see! I wasn't gonna take it, honest!"

"I know," Kurt said, voice sounding a little rough. He swallowed to smooth out the lump in his throat and moved a little closer. "I know you weren't. It's okay."

Todd relaxed marginally, though it was with a shaking hand he set the holowatch down on the dresser. He did not even glance at the mirror now. Kurt didn't know what to say. He shifted from foot to foot, wishing for something brilliant and meaningful to appear in his head. Instead he reached into his pocket and brought out a muffin and an apple, wrapped in paper towels. "Got you some breakfast. In case you were still here."

Some life returned to Todd's wan face in the form of a light smirk. "Look at you, sneakin' food to me. Plannin' to keep me here as a pet or somethin'?"

"Nein! I mean . . . well . . . you can stay here if you want. Actually it's probably best. The Brotherhood got their butts kicked in practice today. Paintball."

"Fuck," Todd winced. "Pietro's gonna string me up if even one hair on his head got splattered. Wish Summers would stop doing this early-in-the-morning crap. I am _never_ gonna catch them in a good mood."

"Well . . . eat some breakfast. And maybe we could go together. I could port you out of there if things go south."

"No, dawg. Thanks, but that will just make things a million times worse." Todd bit into the apple, chewing thoughtfully and sat on the ground, his back to the dresser. "If they beat me up, well, 'least I can't look too much worse than I already do," he joked.

Kurt sat down across from him, still holding the muffin. It was chocolate chip and those were always in huge demand when the Danger Room session got let out. He'd ported into the kitchen and grabbed the last one, just as Wanda was reaching for it, and ported back out before she could hex him into next Tuesday.

Not that he was going to tell Todd this - he'd probably take the muffin back to her and that was simply not cool because he'd stolen the muffin for _Todd_, at great risk to his own life, dammit, and therefore Todd was going to enjoy every last crumb. (Sometimes Kurt had to wonder about his sanity; sitting on the floor and rambling in his head about a muffin.)

Todd tossed the apple core in the vicinity of the garbage bin beneath Kurt's desk. He reached for the rest of his breakfast before Kurt could question his mental health any further. "Think I better wait until they cool down though, in any case. You know . . . I didn't exactly bring my costume, er . . . uniform . . . whatever the fuck it is. Spandex thing. So if they make me go practice with them tomorrow, I ain't sure what I'm s'posed to wear."

"Well, the Professor actually made you all battle uniforms. Stop making that face," Kurt grinned. "They're not that bad. Better than a goldfish bowl helmet at least."

"Yeah, well, I ain't wearin' no bright green spandex crap, or any variation thereof. M'already turnin' green enough, thank you. Don't need to look like no freaking comic book character." Todd bit into the muffin with a chomp that was perhaps more violent than it needed to be and then chewed. The scowl went away after a moment. "Mmmm. Chocolate chip."

Kurt laughed and reached over to thoughtlessly ruffle Todd's hair. "Fixes almost everything, ja?"

"Almost," Todd agreed, licking melted chocolate off his fingers. The notion to swat Kurt's hand away didn't make any appearance.

"Anyway, all of them are standard black and grey - no clown colors, I promise. I'm pretty sure you can make any changes you want to the uniform. He didn't put the X-man emblem on them, knowing you guys probably wouldn't like that."

"Tch. So now yo feedin' me _and_ dressin' me up."

Kurt snorted, better prepared this time for the teasing remark, though he could still feel himself flushing. "Shut up."

Todd smirked and finished his muffin, once again licking his fingers off, though this time he used more of his tongue. Kurt wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not, but his skin heated up even more. He looked away, searching for a distraction. His eyes fell on the picture of him and Amanda on his desk.

"So . . . uh. Thanks again for last night."

Todd left off licking and stared at him. "Last night?" His eyebrow raised up slowly. His eyes flicked toward the bed, where he'd woken up not twenty minutes ago. "Is there something . . . I should Iknow?/I"

Kurt reached behind him and threw a pillow at Todd. "I meant for talking to Amanda!" he yelped. Todd fell over laughing as Kurt huffed in mortification.

"God damn dawg! You are so easy to rile up!" Todd cackled. He tossed the pillow back at him, wiping at his eyes. "I know you wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pond net - so take it easy, yo. No need to freak out."

Something about the way he said that made Kurt's chest tighten. He looked down at the pillow in his hands and tossed it behind him on the bed. "I'm not freaking out," he muttered, for lack of anything to say. "I just . . ." This was turning awkward fast. Subject change in ten, nine, eight . . .

"Did you want to work on your room today? Logan mentioned this morning that he gave you permission to use a drill. God help us all," he smirked. It worked, Todd rolled his eyes.

"I actually think I can wait on that a bit. Don't you need to go hang out with Amanda or somethin?"

"Later," Kurt shrugged. "She's calling me tonight. For now, I'm free."

"Cool." It was Todd's turn to be awkward now as he became suddenly entranced with his shoelaces. "Well, like I said, I'm gonna wait a bit before I go find the guys. Probably oughta go find Logan and see if we fixed his bike. We took one of the spares last night to Sefton's. It rode okay, but felt kinda jumpy."

"Yeah? I didn't ever know you were so good with machines."

"It's just a knack. Oh reminds me, I better reset your holowatch." He reached up and picked it off the dresser, fiddling with the knobs. "There, got it. Hang on a minute . . . Gotta make one minor adjustment . . ."

"Alrigh - hey, _what_ adjustment? You're not making my hair pink or anything are you?"

"Nah, nothin' like that. Just pullin' your damned pants up. They been drivin' me crazy, yo!"

"What - Todd!" Kurt made a grab for the watch. "My pants are none of your business!"

Todd moved it out of reach, hopping on the computer chair. "Dawg, showin' off your underwear in the hallway is _not_ as cool as you think it is, trust me!"

"Well it wasn't my idea! The Professor's the one who set that thing up."

He stopped to stare at Kurt. "Ohhh . . . that's just a _whole_ new level of wrong! Here." Todd tossed the watch to him and Kurt huffed, fastening it around his wrist and turning it on. He looked normal save that his image wore cargo pants around the waist now, without any green boxers in sight.

"Tch, I _guess_ it's an improvement," he admitted, begrudgingly.

"Good, 'cause if you wanted it changed back, you'd have had to ask the Professor. And I woulda filmed that for posterity," Todd grinned cheekily. Kurt aimed a good-natured swat at his head, which the boy barely ducked. Cackling, he hopped onto the balcony and onto the railing, looking impishly over his shoulder at the elf.

"See ya around then, fuzzy." Todd jumped down, landing softly on the grass and started walking towards the garage.

Kurt watched him from the window, sighing in fond exasperation before heading out into the hall.

Consequently, he didn't see Todd stop in the middle of the lawn, turning to look at the line of trees near the gazebo, near where Mr. Sefton had confronted him. Todd paused for a long moment, then headed towards it.

* * *

{Morla? That you?}

It was with quite a bit of nervousness that Todd called out. If he was speaking human, then all he risked was sounding like a dork. If otherwise, he could get stuck like that again, and would have to go to the Professor again. He swallowed, walking carefully to the pond - lest he step on someone.

Risk or not, Todd did want to at least see if Morla was around. Maybe he could ask the amphibian how he could stop the dreams.

Maybe they hadn't been dreams, but events. He remembered jaws coming up from the dark. To a frog, they'd be huge - the jaws of a pike or trout. But there weren't any fish in this pond, so it couldn't have been here. He wanted the visions to stop, whatever they were.

{It is Nadii.} The little guy seemed to puff up and Todd had to resist smiling.

{So where _is_ Morla?}

{Not here. He will return at mid-mark, if not sooner. You may speak with me instead.}

Todd sat down on the pond wall, looking at the frog. He was still tiny, eyes bugging out and skin shining with wetness. Carefully, Todd lowered his hand to his level. {I won't throw you again. Promise. I'm really sorry for that.}

{Did you think I was a predator?}

{No. I thought you were freaky. Never spoke to a frog before in my life.} He smiled sheepishly as Nadii climbed onto his hand again, hesitantly.

{You smell like a predator and look like a predator, but you are not. Morla said you are our friend. He said if you came back, I was to speak with you. And to tell others to speak with you.}

Todd winced as a sudden chorus blasted his ears. A great number of frogs were chirping welcome, a few shouting their names in introduction, and one or two seemed to be singing.

Nadii turned in his palm and squared off against the inhabitants of the pond and the cattails surrounding it. {One at a time, I said! Quiet down!}

His orders were ineffectual; the chirping and shouting and singing rose to new heights of volume. Todd wore the expression of a dog listening to a high pitched frequency.

{I am sorry for this. I will fix it.} Nadii apologized. He turned back to face the teeming water. {PREDATOR!}

The noise quit immediately, save for a stray peeping which was ominously cut off by a violent-sounding plop. As if nothing had happened, Nadii looked up at Todd. {We have not seen you since that day the other Uprights took you inside. All of us were trying to speak to you at once and we wonder if maybe it hurt you. You looked as if you were in great pain.}

{I was okay. Mostly I was just . . . stuck. I could talk your language, but not theirs. Everything's cool now.} Todd grinned at him.

{Can we talk to him now?} Another voice piped from the water. Its owner sounded young and impatient.

{Yeah, stop hogging the Upright! It's our turn, Nadii!}

{Mish, Hota, be quiet and wait your turn! _I_ am in charge!} Nadii ordered them, puffing up again.

{You are a such a self-important _wog_, Nadii!}

{Don't you make me come in there, Loosh!} Nadii threatened. Todd didn't think it was possible for such a tiny frog to make himself look so puffy. He had swelled to a perfectly round little ball of rage with two eyes glaring from the top of his head.

Smirking, he lightly touched Nadii's back with the pad of his finger. The little frog flattened at first and made as if to jump off but when Todd started lightly rubbing the smooth skin Nadii arched up into it, eyes closing to half-slits. The indignant rage over his challenged authority was forgotten.

{Oooh. That spot there. That's nice.} He leaned to the side distractedly as Todd tried not to laugh.

And suddenly, Nadii vanished from his hand. Todd felt a familiar rush of air accompany the disappearance and looked up with sharp dread.

Pietro stood a few feet away, holding the squirming frog between cupped hands. "Hey, Todd. This your new friend?" he asked. His tone was dangerous. The important thing though, was that Todd could understand him. This was no time to get stuck again.

Todd could feel his heart hammering. He didn't think Pietro would kill the little frog outright, but he could easily injure Nadii or worse without thinking. It was doubtful he'd feel any remorse for the act.

"He's just a little frog, yo. Be cool," Todd shrugged, acting nonchalant. He knew that if he acted upset, things would be worse for Nadii.

"Huh. He's cute," Pietro said. He opened his hand and Nadii hopped immediately into the air, towards freedom. Pietro merely zipped to where he was going to land and caught him. He tossed Nadii up, and Todd winced as the panicked amphibian squirmed and flailed in midair only to be caught again.

"So," Pietro drawled, continuing this game as if he were playing catch with a ping pong ball. "You've been scarce lately, Toad. Was it something we said?"

"No," Todd croaked miserably, stomach flipping in nauseous sympathy for Nadii. He could no longer pretend this didn't bother him. "Pietro, put him down."

"Relax, Toad. Frogs _like_ jumping, remember?"

"Not like that, they don't," Todd said lowly. His hands balled into fists. He was very glad he couldn't hear Nadii right now, though he didn't have to hear to know the little guy was probably terrified for his life. And wondering why Todd wasn't helping him.

"You're pissed at me, 'Tro. I know that. So take it out on me."

"I am," Pietro said, smiling. Nadii was no longer jumping, simply letting himself get tossed and caught. Pietro cupped his hands around the little creature. "Well, he looks bored. Guess I should put him down so we can talk this out, huh?"

Todd's back stiffened at the underlying menace in that tone. He was proven right; Pietro winded up as if he was going to deliver a fastball pitch. Nadii wasn't likely to survive being thrown that fast or that far. Pietro paused for effect - most likely giving Todd the opportunity to beg him not to.

Instead, Todd snapped his green tongue around Pietro's wrist and bent it back with a snap. Pietro yelled as the sudden pain made him open his hand. Nadii rolled off his palm limply and Todd let go of Pietro's wrist to scoop him up with his tongue, dragging the little frog into his mouth. He didn't swallow, hurrying to the pond and letting Nadii drop into the water.

For a horrifying moment, broken only by Pietro's cursing as he nursed his wrist, Nadii simply floated motionless in the water. Then he moved, darting away to the shelter of the reeds.

A few chirps and song broke out from them, perhaps reassuring Todd. Or scolding him for not acting sooner. Either way, he wanted them to hide now - it wasn't safe.

{PREDATOR!} He barked and the noises stopped. He turned to glare at Pietro and saw the boy was already getting up with a snarl. Todd braced himself as Maximoff slammed into him, knocking him down into the mossy grass.

"You fucker - you could've broken my wrist -"

"An' you woulda deserved it if I had, you ff -" Todd was cut off by a blow to the mouth, but delivered one of his own swiftly enough.

Insults were shouted out and interrupted as the boys exchanged blows and tried to pin the other to the ground. Pietro was too fast to get a good hold on and he fought just as dirty as Todd did. They banged their knees several times on simultaneous tries to slam them into each other's groin and Todd had the advantage of a tongue which prevented Pietro from getting any hold on him.

They rolled in the wet grass until Pietro's back slammed against two heavy and unmovable objects - Freddy's shoes. The boy sighed and reached down to separate his friends. This was, for him, as easy as peeling apart two tangled clusters of grapes. With one hand on the back of Pietro's jacket, and the other on the collar of Todd's shirt, he simply picked them up and held them apart.

"You guys are done fighting," he said matter-of-factly. "I am gonna put you down now and if anyone hits anybody else, I'm gonna wallop 'em flat. Got it?"

Todd spat blood and nodded sullenly. Pietro did the same, gingerly reaching up to feel what would be a shiner later in the day. Unceremoniously, Fred dumped them onto the ground. He folded his arms and gave them a warning look, mostly aiming it at Pietro in a silent reminder that even if the boy hit Todd and then ran away, he couldn't avoid Fred's fist forever. Freddy was not above hitting a sleeping man.

Scowling, Pietro brushed himself off. "So what the hell's been with you, anyway?" he asked Todd. "You've been more of a loser than usual since we got here."

"How's that?" Todd sneered. "By not wanting to deal with your bullshit?"

"What bullshit! I haven't done anything to you! Well, except now. But Fred hasn't! Lance hasn't! Why are you avoiding us? What the fuck did you yell at _Wanda_ for? She didn't need that, not from you!"

"Yeah, well she said some things that I didn't need to hear neither!" Todd shot back, stinging. "And she meant them! Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her. Scratch that, I _know_ I should've have! But I . . . I can't talk to her. Yo, I almost don't even _want_ to talk to her anymore." His shoulders slumped. He didn't expect any sympathy from Pietro, but it was the truth.

"I didn't think she _could_ say anything to tick you off this bad," Fred observed, tilting his head.

"Yeah, Wanda's always insulting, belittling, or hexing you. What's so different this time?" Pietro added.

". . . Dawg, I don't even want to repeat it."

"Well summarize it then. What could she have said that made you think turning your back completely on us was the way to go? I mean, we're supposed to be a team and Summers has been completely ragging on us ,you'reneverthereandwe'resupposedtojust-"

"Pietro. We're a team. Right now, that means shut up and let him talk," Fred interjected.

The albino youth let his mouth close with click, and then sighed. He made a gesture for Todd to say something, if he was going to.

"You want me to summarize? Fine. I'll summarize. She told me that nobody would want to be with me - ever - let alone her, and that I barely passed for being human as it is. Or, _was_. Look at me now, notice anything different?" Sneering, Todd rolled up his sleeves and bared his arms.

Pietro stared. "Okay . . . so you have spots. Thought it was dirt on your face or something."

"Yeah, I got spots. And I can fuckin' talk to frogs. And I've been having fuckin' nightmares every fuckin' night - I can see things through a frog's eyes!"

"That's kind of cool," Maximoff shrugged.

"No it's not _cool, _yo!" Todd shouted. "I don't _want_ to be a frog, I want to be human!"

Fred and Pietro looked at each other, then back at him. "You are human. Just with frog-like qualities," Pietro said, putting an arm around Todd's shoulders. They slumped under the weight.

"Not according to her," he said miserably. "Look, I wasn't trying to avoid you guys or nothin'. I was just tryin' to avoid Wanda for a while. I didn't know what to say to her. And I don't want her to see me like this. I know it's stupid."

"Yeah, maybe it is," Fred said, ruffling Todd's hair. "But it's the kind of stupid we can understand. But you can't avoid her forever, you know. The mansion's not _that_ big."

Todd shrugged. "I'd rather not deal with her just yet."

"Fine, then don't," Pietro said impatiently. "Avoid her all you want, but you're coming to drills tomorrow whether you like it or not. I'm sick of Summers thinking he's one-upped us before he's even begun."

"Yeah, whatever. I'll be there. Right now, I gotta make sure you didn't kill Nadii."

"Who?" Pietro wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"The little frog you were tossin' around like a beanbag? If he's hurt, I'm gonna be kickin' your ass all over the place tomorrow, and Summers can have whatever's left," Todd spat at him, angrily. Pietro backed away, hands up.

"Whoaaa. Chill out, Toad, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sure he's fine."

"Don't you _ever_ fuckin' do that again, dawg!"

"Whatever. Cross my heart, okay? I won't," Maximoff shrugged. "Look, it's been nice talking to you and finding out you haven't secretly become one of the X-geeks, but it's almost lunch and I gotta make sure I get the last croissant. If you want to hang out, come find us later. See ya!"

He was gone in a silver blur. Todd scowled in his direction and walked over to the pond.

"So . . . This is where you been the past few days?" Fred ventured. Todd shrugged, sitting down on the edge.

"Only the one time. Hang on a minute, kay?" Todd looked into the water, seeing vague shapes swimming beneath it.

{Nadii? You okay, buddy?}

There was a moment of quiet, then the water rippled.

{I am here. I am very dizzy, but alive. Thank you. The other Upright behind you . . . Is he dangerous . . .?}

{No, he ain't. And Pietro will never do that to you _again_. I made him swear. Look, I gotta go. I'm glad you're okay. I'm really sorry that happened.}

{It is alright. Some predators are much faster than others. It is fortunate he wanted to play with his food before eating me.}

Todd shook his head, not quite smiling but close. {See you later, Nadii. I'll be back later.}

He stood up, to see Fred watching curiously. "Even if you don't like it, I still think it's cool you can talk to frogs."

"Yeah, I guess that part is. It ain't really useful, but they're fun to talk to."

"So Pietro was tossin' him around? He shouldn't have done that. If I'd gotten there earlier, I coulda stopped him," Fred said. "It gets me mad when people pick on little guys who can't defend themselves."

Todd grinned up at him. "No kiddin'. Sometimes I wish frogs could bite."

Fred ruffled his hair again, laughing. "_You_ can. You got the nastiest bite I ever seen."

"Shut up, Fred," Todd laughed, ducking under hand hand. "You wanna walk with me to the garage? I gotta check Logan's bike out." At Fred's stunned look, Todd shook his head. "No, I ain't gonna steal it or nothin'. Don't worry."

"Well, I figured you weren't _completely_ crazy, but . . . . since when are you on first name basis with Wolverine?"

"Don't worry, yo. He's actually pretty cool when he's not runnin' around with his claws out killing people. I been helpin' him fix stuff."

"Huh. This I gotta see." Fred followed after him.

**TBC**

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A/N: So this chapter was long. Hopefully you enjoyed it. As always, I love reviews - and I have re-enabled anonymous reviews. It was previously disabled because I had someone basically posting a 'review' every day - if that's what it could be called. Instead of commenting on the story, these 'reviews' merely screamed for me to UPDATE NOW!

This is very annoying. Believe it or not, such 'reviews' do not make me wish to stop everything I'm doing and sit down at the computer to write. They have an adverse effect, in fact; after reading such a 'review', I don't even want to work on the story anymore.

I'm writing this story because it's fun for me to do so. I have no contract or obligation to continue this story, or even to post it here. If someone believes that they have the right to put a deadline on the next chapter of any of my fics, that 'review' will be deleted, and I will disable anonymous reviews AGAIN. Thanks for reading, and thanks to all those reviewers who understand I have a life outside the interwebz.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the delay - I had some health problems and had to leave the internet for a while. Please enjoy! I'll make every attempt to upload the next one sooner, but I can make no promises. In the meantime, you all have been patient and wonderful and I thank you deeply for the reviews and kind words! **

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The garage light flickered annoyingly overhead as Todd knelt to examine the Corvette's hubcap. Logan had shown him the bent rim, likely from striking a curb. It was an easy fix luckily - all he had to do was take it off the tire and then weld the dent out.

He was on his own for the next hour - Logan having to leave suddenly to pick up Ororo. She'd apparently hit a pothole and by the time she came out with all the groceries, the tire had completely deflated.

"Tire's shot. She says there's a hole the size of a quarter in the side of it," Logan had said, gathering his jacket and van keys. "So I'm gonna switch vans with her so she can get the groceries home, then change the tire. You got enough to do?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Todd replied. "I'll do what I can and just because I like you, I won't even set the place on fire."

"More like because you value your life," Logan snorted. "There's soda in the fridge. There's beer too, but you're both having soda."

"Right," Freddy gulped.

"See? Another fine example of us valuin' our lives, yo."

With a smirk and a shake of his head, Logan climbed into the van and drove off. Freddy had stayed with Todd until he noticed it was past noon. "Hey, there's a movie that Lance and I wanted to watch on TV in about ten minutes - you want to join us? You should probably stop for lunch anyway."

"Eh, I'm good. I'll join you later though."

With a shrug, Fred had headed back for the main building, leaving Todd alone.

He whistled to himself as he inspected the tires, trying to break the sudden silence.

"Damn, yo daddy's been rough on you, hasn't he?" Todd smirked, starting to unscrew the lug nuts. He knew who this car belonged to. Given how detail-oriented Summers was, it was surprising that anything at all had happened to the Corvette. Likely, it had been taken out for a joyride.

A shadow fell over him as he spun the tire iron.

"Hey, back already - err . . ." The person looking down at him was not Logan. "H-Hey. Summers. How's it hangin'?"

Todd gave a small terrified yelp as the tire iron was yanked out of his grip. He immediately shrunk down and covered his head, until he heard the clatter of it being harmlessly thrown aside.

"I knew you were up to no good, Tolensky! I'd _like_ to say I'm surprised to see you here taking the hubcaps off people's cars, but given that you've been sneaking around since you got here, I'm not!"

"Whaaat! I wasn't stealing your hubcaps! Get a grip - where would I _take_ them? To the junkyard?"

Todd again yelped as Scott pulled him up by the collar of his shirt and gave him a shake.

"Don't play coy - you were going to take them and sell them to a pawn shop or something."

"Uh, hate to burst your bubble, but they aren't worth that much. And notice I was removing the _bent _one, Summers? I'm tryin' to _fix_ it," Todd protested, squirming to get away.

"Sure, I believe you. Why don't we just have a little chat with the Professor." Scott began to drag him along.

Anger burned in Todd's face. Sure, he'd done a lot of lying and stealing, but was it so impossible for people to just believe him? Well, at least when he was actually telling the truth. He groaned to himself, wishing he hadn't gotten caught so many times.

"You're wasting your time, yo. All that's probably gonna happen is Professor Xavier will give you some long-ass lecture about how you should listen to people and not judge them. But whatever, it ain't _my_ time anybody's wastin'. Just yours."

Todd spoke offhandedly, acting like he wasn't affected at all. But internally he was burning with embarrassment. People were staring as Scott marched him inside and up the stairs, keeping a hold of his wrist as though Todd were a naughty child.

"Keep on talking Tolensky. You want to think you're going to fool a telepath, go for it."

Ugh. It was useless to try and reason with him. Utterly useless. Todd knew he had no reason to lower his face or defensively hunch his shoulders, but he did anyway out of habit.

"So, got any idea who's takin' your baby out for night rides, or were you just careless cutting a left corner?" Todd asked, glaring at the floor as he walked.

"What are you talking about?" Summers demanded, though he didn't stop.

"Your Corvette, duh. The hubcap was bent. I told you. Either you were sloppy, or somebody's been snitching your keys and having fun while you're sleepin'."

"Well, I'll make sure mention that to the Professor. Anything else you want to admit?" They passed the Rec Room and Todd tried to put as much of Scott between himself and the open door as he could manage. He didn't know if Wanda was in there, but according to Murphy's Law, she probably would be.

"No," he said miserably, looking over his shoulder. Maybe nobody had seen him? Oh God, this was so humiliating.

A puff of blue smoke appeared in front of them and Todd sucked in his breath as Kurt stood up from his crouch. "Scott, do you know if the laundry's been -" He trailed off and looked at Todd, frowning. "What's going on?"

"Just a little matter that I'm sure Professor Xavier can handle."

Smug bastard. Todd didn't have to look up to see the self-satisfied smirk on Scott's face. For some reason, Kurt seeing him being dragged around like this was ten times more embarrassing than if they had run into Wanda. He wanted to punch Scott in the face and though Todd's hand made a fist, he kept it at his side.

"I happened to go down to the garage this morning, and who do you think I should finally find?" Scott began. Kurt just looked at him, then flicked his golden eyes back to Todd.

"Okay, so you found Todd. In the garage. Where he's been since yesterday, helping Logan with repairs," Kurt answered calmly. Seeing Scott deflate like a punctured beach ball cheered Todd up considerably. "And then what happened?"

"Oh, it was the sweetest thing," Todd lied, hit with sudden evil inspiration, "Scotty came down the garage and proposed! We're gonna get married, dawg!" He twisted his wrist free in order to clasp Scott's fingers, holding both their hands up and leaning into him.

Scott could not let go of him fast enough.

"What? I - I - no, that's _not_ what -!" he sputtered and Todd cackled, hopping out of reach.

He landed beside Kurt who was making a serious effort not to laugh. "Scott, I never knew. Congratulations to you both."

"I - that's not - _he was stealing my hubcaps_!" Scott burst out. His reddened face nearly matched his shades.

"And that," Todd said, dramatically cheesy, "Was when he stole my _heart_!" He clapped a hand over his chest to add to the effect, and Kurt simply lost it. His laughter was infectious enough to set Todd off, making the boy forget his earlier parade of humiliation.

Scott stood there, gawking at them with an expression that really didn't help them stop laughing anytime soon.

"Since when are you two friends?" he asked, frowning.

"Ahaha, God, my face hurts so bad," Todd half-whimpered, massaging his cheeks as he tried to get control over his giggling.

"I, uh, couldn't really tell you, Scott," Kurt managed, leaning against the wall. He propped himself back up unsteadily. "Probably about two days now. Positive he wasn't just _fixing_ your car?"

"Nah, I admit it, dawg," Todd drawled, before Scott could answer. "I _was _gonna steal his completely worthless dented hubcap. I wanted to make a funny hat, then maybe play some Frisbee out in the yard with the guys, y'know?"

"Okay, fine, I get it," Scott muttered, pushing up his sunglasses. "I guess you weren't stealing them after all."

"I accept your apology."

"Interesting," Scott iced, "Because I _wasn't_ apologizing. You've done your share of stealing and lying, Tolensky, so you're just gonna have to accept that people are going to think of you as a thief and a liar from now on. Until you prove yourself to be otherwise."

The smile slipped from Todd's face. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" he asked, voice equally cold.

"Scott," Kurt protested. "That's not fair. _He_ was fixing your car - something he didn't have to do - and _you_ accused him of stealing."

"Logan never told me that the car _needed _fixing!" Scott snapped. "And if that wasn't suspect enough, Tolensky just admitted that someone's been taking it out for joyrides! If not him, then probably someone else he knows. Alvers, maybe?" he asked Todd, who was already riled up. The only thing that prevented him from slinging both fists and slime all over Summers' face was Kurt's cautionary hand on his shoulder.

"Yo, you know what - that's bullshit and I'll tell you why! 'Cause unlike you, _Lance_ doesn't have to drive around in a pussy little red sports car to feel good about himself! Maybe the Jeep ain't as fancy as your car, but you know what? Lance paid for it _himself_, fixed it up _himself, _and he even maintains it _himself_. Therefore, it will likely continue to run _long_ after your stupid fucking Corvette chokes and dies, _or _gets totaled in an accident caused by you tryin' to prove that your dick isn't as tiny as everybody thinks it is!"

Scott turned white with fury and for a terrifying moment, Todd thought he was about to be blasted across the room or at the very least punched in the mouth. He still held his ground, pale but defiant.

"Big words from somebody who hasn't made it to a single drill yet. What's wrong, Toad? Everybody already knows you're a terrible fighter and you scream like a girl when threatened. Not like you have any reputation to save."

"Scott!" snapped Kurt, affronted for his sake, but Todd clenched his fists, hissing a sharp intake of air. Anger made his words reckless.

"You son of a bitch. Not only will I be there tomorrow, I'll fucking wipe the _floor _with your face afterwards."

"Oh, so you'll change the Brotherhood's losing score all by yourself?" Scott mocked. "I'd love to see that, Tolensky. In fact, tomorrow I'll be making you the leader of your team. I'd advise you to warn the others of this so they aren't too surprised when they epically lose tomorrow."

Todd saw red and he spun on his heel, quickly walking away. He wasn't going to hit Scott. No, he would save it, because nothing would give Scott more satisfaction than to see Todd punished by whatever adult happened to walk in on the fight. That was always the way it worked; the instant you fought back against the bullies, was the same instant that the teachers showed up to hand you the detention slip.

"Yeah whatever, take your advice and shove it, Milhouse," he snarled over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

Todd was so angry he didn't even know where he was going. Just away from Scott - that's all he cared about. And not to the garage because there was a good chance that he was going to kick the crap out of that stupid car and probably break every window for good measure. And then Logan would kick his ass or at least never trust him to be around the garage again. Todd liked Logan's company and he liked the garage because it was a haven of sorts. Scott's anguish over his car wouldn't be worth losing that.

Thinking about it however - oh, _that_ brought plenty enough satisfaction. Such that as he was envisioning driving Scott's bespectacled head through the windshield, rather than his own powerful kick, he barely heard Kurt calling his name. The elf caught up to him and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Todd, are you okay?"

"Not really, no," he surprised himself by admitting, looking darkly over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about him. He's being more of an ass than usual. What are you going to do?"

"Do? I wasn't bluffing back there, dawg. When I get there tomorrow, I will kick his ass up and down the freaking walls like a goddamned racquetball," Todd swore. He was angry enough that it was the true account of how events would unfold - at least in his imagination.

"Wow, you're more pissed at him than you ever were at me," Kurt said, hoping to get Todd to smile or at least calm down a little.

It worked, sort of. Todd felt some of his anger leave him. "Eh. You were at least never a smug bastard. Even when you won, you didn't really lord it over me. Sometimes you even stopped to make sure I was okay. But if Scott wins tomorrow, he'll never stop crowing about it. And I will be forced to bash in his fat head with a rock."

"So will the rest of us. Not all of us are out to get you guys, but Scott apparently feels threatened."

"Threatened! By what? We're here on your charity, we can't go home. We never really had a home to begin with - even before it got overrun by bills and foreclosure threats 'cause that bimbo Mystique kept leaving us dry! Sorry, no offense . . ." Todd remembered too late that Mystique was Kurt's mother.

Kurt's expression was unreadable, but he shrugged. "None taken. I don't care anymore."

There was pain there. Todd paused but didn't press the issue, instead trying to push through the moment. "Anyway, it was barely a home and we can't even have that anymore. We're here and we're still kinda reeling from it, Pietro and Wanda especially. Magneto is their father and he just . . . poof, he's gone. The rest of us are used to that sorta crap, but not them."

Todd was again silent for a moment. His anger at Wanda had left a while ago, though there was still the cringing embarrassment anytime he thought about her too much. "And Scott's all asserting himself over us - hardcore, yo. He's tryin' to break us into this place and this routine, meanwhile we're already broken! We might not act like anything's wrong, but trust me - you just look at _Lance's_ face when he thinks nobody's looking and you can see lines in it. He's eighteen and he's had to take care of us for so long - suddenly losing that responsibility is a relief, but it's kinda painful too, you know?

"It's like he gets no acknowledgment that he's been holding all of our heads above the water this whole time - instead, he gets to watch Scott strutting around the mansion and passing judgments on him and on us like we had this coming 'cause we're such horrible people for not being able to make it on the 'bad guy' payroll. And Lance can't say anything about it because he's not in charge of us anymore! Summers is, and _he's_ not giving us any time to adjust to the changes or the new people or _anything_. He's just pummeling us over and over with his 'I'm a great person and you aren't, so I'm gonna teach you about morality' crap! And the fact that the adults aren't even sayin' anything 'bout all this makes me wonder if they even notice!"

Kurt felt a pain in his chest at those words and reached out to put a hand on Todd's shoulders. "They do notice. Ororo's tried to speak with Scott. I've seen it. So has Jean, and so have I. And trust me, I'll be speaking to Scott again before tomorrow."

"Hell with _speaking_ to him, dawg. Can't you just . . . ah, I dunno. Put him a crate and ship it off to Tokyo or something?"

"Tempting," Kurt grinned, "but I'm afraid not. Just try to remember that Scott doesn't speak for all of us. I'm glad you're here, and I know Kitty is thrilled about Lance and Wanda. She's even made friends with Fred. He's teaching her how to cook."

"Thank the powers that be," Todd dead-panned, though he smiled a little at the thought. "He out of his mind yet?"

"Close. He's at least taught her the difference between baking soda and baking powder. So what are you going to do?"

"About what? Bein' the leader of the pack tomorrow? No freaking clue, dawg. It was hard enough to just make up with Pietro and Fred after I ran off to join a herd of frogs," Todd snorted. "Lance and Fred might be amused, but Pietro's gonna throw a shit fit."

"I thought Lance was the leader, not Pietro."

"Lance is the unofficial leader. He lets Pietro take charge of the drills because Pietro needs something to do with himself lately. I think Magneto's dick move of ditching him and Wanda here renewed some - eh, what we call 'inadequacy issues.' He was always a perfectionist and he needs a function that lets him be one. As much as we want to knock him silly sometimes, ya gotta feel for the guy. I mean, sure, my Pop was an alcoholic jackass, but at least he didn't jerk me around emotionally."

Kurt regarded him quietly for a moment. The Brotherhood _did _function as a team, despite whatever Scott claimed. He rather doubted Scott would step down as a leader if someone _else _needed to feel in charge for a while. There was a lot that the Brotherhood boys could teach the Xmen, it seemed.

"Well, that's _one _hurdle definitely. And I'm not sure if I can help you with that. But another is the fact that you threw out your battle gear."

"Aw, fucking hell, I forgot! Shit, I can't exactly show up in jeans and a tank top for this, can I?" Todd groaned, covering his face.

"You could. It would just sting. A lot."

"That thing never afforded me much protection anyway," Todd muttered, running a hand through his hair. "And it looked stupid." He trailed off, looking at Kurt. "You, um . . . you said earlier that Professor made us gear?" Todd's tone was a study in misery.

"Yes, he did. It really doesn't look as bad as you're thinking."

"Whether it does or not, I don't got a choice, yo. Figures I'm already gonna get flattened by my teammates for all this. I might as well be in uniform. So, you wanna show me where . . .?"

Trying to smile reassuringly, Kurt put his hand on Todd's arm again and teleported them to the lower levels of the Danger Room.

* * *

His reaction to the gear wasn't nearly as negative as Kurt had initially feared. In fact, Todd had almost seemed eager to try it on. Not that he had said as much, but there was a light to Todd's eyes that hadn't been there before. Kurt smiled, able to hear the approval in Todd's voice, even through the occasional gripes as he examined the gear.

It was form fitting, though made of something more substantial than Todd's older costume and less liable to rip. Also, it was a dark gray with not even a hint of green anywhere and the utility belt was actually useful - compactly storing several first aid items, a tracer, and small microphone and headphone buds.

"For communication with each other," Kurt explained. "We have drills where we test the equipment, to make sure everyone can use their gear quickly and expertly. We'll especially be trained in First Aid and CPR."

"Wow, actually _useful_ information? That's good. Cause I was wonderin' when Xavier expected us to have to do battle with metal tentacles - ew, nevermind. Don't answer that one." Todd made a face, then looked back at the costume in his hands. He still seemed a little reluctant. "There's really no 'X's on this thing, right?"

"No, there's not," Kurt said, sensing the problem. "Try it on, at least. Pietro can't complain too much if it makes you look great. You'll probably start a trend."

"Hah. I don't see nobody paintin' spots on themselves yet," Todd snorted, but he headed toward the changing cubicles. "It's weird Summers didn't comment on that. Everyone else who's seen me kinda stares for at least a minute or two."

"Well, he sees nothing but red. It's possible they don't even show up for him."

"Oh. So, I look normal to the one guy I don't even _care_ to look normal in front of? Lucky me." Todd closed the door and a moment later he tossed up his jeans to hang over it.

Kurt blinked, confused by that statement. His phone beeped then and he fished it out of his pocket, reading the text. It was from Amanda. She wanted to meet him for a movie tonight. He smiled, though he was unable to text her back. Big furry fingers tended to be his worst enemy in that sort of thing, but it was no big loss. He enjoyed calling and hearing her voice. Kurt memory dialed her number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey. So, do you want to go?"

"Sure, what movie?" he asked her. Movies were fine by him. Amanda would lean into him and he'd be able to put his arm around her and they'd just enjoy each other's company, the popcorn, and the film. A bonus was if the film was actually good - then they could talk about it on the way home.

She was listing off a couple, including the theater times. "I hear the one with the lizard - Ringo, or something - is pretty cute, and then there's that Zombie movie that's supposed to be a complete riot. I don't like horror, but I was reading the site, and the gore is so cheesy and fake that I don't think I'll get scared."

"That's cool. Either one is fine by me. What time do you want?"

Amanda told him, but Kurt suddenly wasn't paying attention anymore. Because Todd had stepped out of the cubicle and he was standing before Kurt, fidgeting awkwardly and trying to adjust his uniform. "Dawg, this thing is totally crawling up my ass. Did the Professor hire a team of pedophiles to design this?"

Kurt snorted, trying to stifle a laugh. "Nein," he managed.

"Eight's not okay? I guess seven would be okay then, it would give us time to walk around the mall."

"No, I'm sorry. Eight is fine. I was just distracted for a second. I'm trying to help Todd with his costume."

"Oh for - _costume? _Really? Man, why you gotta say it like that?" Todd hissed, flushing as he tried again to yank down on the seat of his pants. "This is embarrassing enough."

"I can hear him," Amanda said, sounding amused. "Say hi for me. I take it there's a few wardrobe malfunctions?"

"Ja, he has a killer wedgie," Kurt smirked. "Hey!" he shouted as Todd grabbed the phone from him.

"Yo, hi Amanda? Just so you're aware, your boyfriend won't be makin' it to the movies 'cause I'm' a hafta kill him now."

"As long as it's quick and humane," she giggled.

"Oh, I'll be _quick _alright. Ow!" Todd yelped as Kurt jumped on him, wrestling him for the phone. He managed to pin the boy's wrists over his head, going dead-weight over Todd so he could talk into the phone.

"Amanda, I'll see you at eight, ja?" Kurt said, trying not to let Todd buck him off.

"Okay. Meet you in front of the theater." She hung up and Todd scowled at him, letting go of the phone.

"Dawg, I'm still gonna kill you when you let me up."

"Oh? And who said I was letting you up?" Kurt asked, grinning. Todd's eyes widened. For too long a moment, he stared at Kurt then looked away.

"So, anyway, does it look lame on me or what?" he asked tersely. Kurt blinked and stood up, offering him a hand. The abrupt change of subject was uncharacteristic enough of Todd to know he needed to stop the horseplay.

"It looks good on you actually. And can you move around in it?"

"Pretty easily. Maybe I just need to stretch it out," Todd muttered. He jumped up onto the ceiling and hung down, looking at the floor rather than Kurt. "Already feels less like a sausage case."

Kurt thought of adding to that, but found that he was too embarrassed to say what had just popped into his mind. He shrugged instead, feeling awkward. "Well, anyway. It looks good. Much better than the old green one, ja?"

"Ja," Todd replied, grinning at him. He flipped back down. The uniform covered him completely from his elbows to his ankles. There were guards for the backs of his hands that didn't interfere with his webbing, plus reinforced shin guards. Black boots not unlike the ones with his other costume gave protection to the soles of his feet but allowed him to stick to and crawl along the walls. Along with that, he had a pair of goggles which he honestly could not discern the purpose for.

"So what're these?" he asked, dangling them in front of Kurt.

"No clue. Maybe eye protection. Does the sun ever hurt your eyes?"

"Not really." Todd tried them on and gasped. Everything was one color and he could see the slightest movement, even in his peripheral vision. A spider was crawling on the wall behind Kurt. A cubicle door swung gently to his right. At the same time, Kurt moved his hand and Todd groaned, taking the goggles off and pinching the bridge of his nose. His eyes had automatically snapped to each slight movement, and he was seeing more at a time than he was used to seeing. His eyes ached; he felt as though they were going to fall out of his head.

"Crap, okay, that's definitely not somethin' I want to wear in battle. Not unless motion sickness is gonna help somehow."

"It's probably something you have to get used to. And maybe it's for night vision?"

"Could be . . . I'd rather ask before I experiment anymore. But hey, this stuff is cool and it feels more comfortable now."

"Well, you're not the only one who got the wedgie experience. Think how fun it must have been for someone with a tail. Kitty also told me that the first time she tried _hers_ on, it was so tight that she was worried about phasing her bare butt out."

Todd laughed at that. "I bet Lance wouldn't have minded a bit! Now there's a thought to cheer him up."

"Ach! Don't tell anyone I said that! She'll _murder_ me!"

"Dawg, with the things that spill outta your mouth sometimes, how do you ever stay alive?" Todd asked, putting the goggles into a pouch in his belt.

"I ask myself that often," Kurt shrugged. "So, you going to break the news to the Brotherhood, wearing that? Or will that be a surprise for tomorrow?"

He chewed on his lip. "I don't know. I'm kinda hopin' everyone will be so wound up that they won't notice."

"You have Pietro on your team. He'll notice. But you know what - at least you _look_ like you could be a leader in that gear. It gives you more dignity, for one thing." Kurt paused. "I think you should save it for tomorrow."

"I should let them pitch a fit about one thing at a time, huh?" Todd sighed and went back into the changing cubicle. "Probably a good plan."

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 10

It was around eight o'clock when Todd entered the Rec room, having stashed his uniform safely in one of the drawers beneath his bed. Kurt had gone to see Amanda for their movie-date, but not before imparting some valuable knowledge about the Danger Room session tomorrow.

Their match with Summers and the other X-men would be happening at the crack of dawn, and Todd wasn't even sure about the rules. Not that he particularly cared about breaking rules, but losing the match on a technicality would be worse than losing to a better opponent. And changing the rules halfway through the game was something Todd certainly didn't put beneath Scott's level; not when Summers seemed to have it out for the Brotherhood, and Todd especially.

Thinking about that jerk made him clench his teeth as he sat on the couch between Fred and Pietro. His sudden presence didn't register when them at first, as they were deep in argument about the hierarchy of Asgard.

"Yeah, well Thor is really Odin's son, so he should be in charge!"

"But Loki is way cooler and smarter – he completely nailed Laufey's ass to the wall after tricking him into attacking Odin! Thus avoiding a war and making himself look like a hero. Besides even if he's not Odin's son, he was raised to be, so it counts!" Pietro countered.

"Nuh-uh! He turned all evil in the end!"

"Oh, please! Thor got banished for starting a war between Asgard and Jotungard, banged some chick on Midgard, came back and boom! – he's the future king again. Meanwhile, Loki gives everything he's got to make his father proud of him and what happens? Odin refuses to listen to his side of things and basically chooses Thor over Loki, while the both of them are hanging onto the Bifrost for their lives. Who the hell can blame Loki for turning evil?" Pietro ranted, with a little more venom than he meant to.

Fred blinked and Todd winced inwardly. He hadn't wanted to talk about tomorrow morning yet, but he also didn't want Pietro dwelling on Magneto. The man had hurt Pietro enough.

"So, ran into Summers," Todd interjected, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" Pietro all but growled.

"He . . . uh . . . well." _Brilliant, yo_. Todd sighed, figuring he should start from the beginning. "He accused me of stealin' his hubcaps, takin' his Corvette for a joyride, and of lazin' around instead of showing up at the Danger Room sessions. I told him off."

"Good for you," Pietro quipped. "Hopefully you can show him a thing or two when we all head down there tomorrow morning."

"Ah . . . see, this is where it gets tricky . . ."

Pietro was suddenly in Todd's face. "Tricky? Don't tell me you're backing out again, Tolensky. You will be down there with us if I have to drag you by your toes!"

"I – dawg, I ain't never said I wouldn't be down there-"

"Good. Maybe with all of us there we'll stand more of a fighting chance this time. I'm holding a meeting later tonight to go over strategy-"

"Yo, Pietro, I'll be down there because I'm gonna be the leader for tomorrow," Todd blurted out over him.

For a long moment, Pietro fell silent. "I beg your pardon?" he asked finally, eyebrow raised.

Todd wanted to squirm and deny everything under that cold gaze, but something Kurt had said earlier – about him _looking_ like a leader – gave him courage. He raised his head. "Summers said that he selected me to be the leader for tomorrow. That means _I_ gotta come up with a strategy."

"You? Are you kidding me?" Pietro yelped, standing up abruptly. "You couldn't strategize your way out of a cardboard box!"

"Hey, give him a break," Fred protested. "Maybe if he had the chance to, he could!"

"And why – _why exactly_ - should we give Toad any chance to make fools out of us?"

"Because Summers doesn't think I can do anything right!" Todd fairly snapped, hurt. "He doesn't take any of us seriously anyway! Besides, if his opinion is so low of me, it'll mean that us winning while _I'm_ in charge will break his tiny little mind!"

"Really?" Pietro asked flatly, unimpressed.

Todd looked up at him, something flashing in his eyes that gave Pietro pause. "I want a chance to do this, yo. He thinks lower of me than any of you, so I want us to win. Cause if we do – especially if _I_ get you there – he won't be able to say another piece of bullshit about us, will he?"

Pietro still looked doubtful, but it was Lance who spoke up next. Todd stared at him, unsure how long he'd been in the doorway.

"Come on, Pietro. Summers just issued us a challenge. He's so confident about winning; he thinks we're gonna lose no matter who's in charge. So maybe this is our chance to shake him up a bit."

Todd was so relieved to have Lance on his side he didn't even roll his eyes at the pun. (Not that he was going to hug him or anything instead.)

Pietro sighed, but nodded his agreement – although somewhat painfully. Fred just beamed and gave Todd a thumbs up, much to the frog-boy's relief. If he had two of the boys on his side, this would be less of a nightmare than he thought. Though there were still some details he wasn't entirely sure they'd accept at all.

"So," Pietro sighed. "If you're gonna be our leader, I guess I need to tell you about the rules. The first one is that we can ask one – and only one - person what tomorrow's game is going to be. They don't necessarily have to tell us the truth, so the idea is to pick our insider well. The leader of the winners from the last game gets to pick the game, and that's pretty much been Summers the entire time."

"Easy, it's laser tag," Todd answered.

Pietro scowled at him. "You've already asked someone?"

"No, Wagner _told_ me," Todd grinned. "And I trust him."

"_Nightcrawler?_ And what _exactly_ makes you think we can trust _him?_"

"Cause he laughed when I told Summers off. And if that's not enough for you, we can still technically ask someone else."

Pietro's expression changed from suspicious to thoughtful. "Huh. So I guess not everyone's busy licking Summers' boots around here after all."

"Some people actually are ticked off at him, yo. More than you think. I know it surprised me too," Todd shrugged.

Lance and Pietro exchanged glances. "This sounds rather promising," Pietro admitted. "We might actually kick Summers' ass tomorrow."

"But before that, we're gonna totally mess with his mind, yo." Todd's somber expression changed into a mischievous grin. "So why don't you guys tell me more about these rules?"

* * *

Morning came all too soon for most of the residents of the Institute. Preceding the sunrise itself, there was a series of loud knocks at Kurt's door. He groaned, peered at the clock, and turned off his alarm, which had been set to chime him awake in another thirty minutes. So much for that nice thought.

He'd come home around ten o'clock that night after watching Zombie Land with Amanda, who hadn't liked it as well as she thought she would. He'd obligingly walked her home while she started at every noise, inwardly wondering how the movie could have frightened her. True, it had its scary moments, but it also had Bill Murray in it, for crying out loud.

After jokingly telling her to eat two Twinkies and call him in the morning (which had earned him an amused eye roll to go with a kiss goodnight) Kurt had walked home, strangely wishing he'd seen the movie with Todd instead. Not that he didn't like going with Amanda, but perhaps she would have enjoyed a different movie. This one was admittedly more Todd's style and Kurt resolved to ask the boy if he'd already seen it when he got back. If not, maybe they could rent it.

He'd dropped into bed around eleven, and now that he was dressed and heading downstairs to the Danger Room, he felt like a zombie himself.

Tabitha and Amara walked quickly past him, both looking entirely too gleeful for being woken up at five-something in the morning.

"Vas?" he questioned, prankster senses tingling. Something was up but before he could ask, Tabby smirked conspiratorially at him, putting a finger over her lips. Be quiet now and he'd find out, the gesture meant.

Curiosity waking him fully now, he walked down to the Danger Room lockers and immediately scanned the area for the Brotherhood. They weren't down here. Still in the kitchen maybe? Kurt certainly remembered Pietro's loud complaints about not having coffee to start the day with.

"They've bailed," Scott said, upon entering the locker room. "They aren't anywhere in the Mansion. I guess they didn't want to show up if Tolensky was supposed to lead their team. Can't say I blame them."

Kurt scowled, too tired to really hide it. He did notice however that he wasn't the only one showing distaste for Scott's attitude. Tabby and Amara were giving each other exasperated looks, Jamie was pouting, and the temperature of Jean's expression was more suitable for the Artic Zone. Kitty crossed her arms, not looking too thrilled herself.

"Well, since everyone's awake, there's no reason why we can't just get in a few practice drills. Everyone suit up."

Groans echoed all around, betraying high hopes that Scott would have simply let everyone go back to bed. No such luck, Kurt thought. He sighed and went into one of the cubicles to change into his battle gear.

Once everyone was dressed, Scott went ahead of them to key open the Danger Room doors. He stopped so abruptly upon entering that several people collided with his back and with each other.

"What – how did you –" he sputtered. "You aren't supposed to-"

"Yo, should we try to answer all those questions, or just let him trip some more?" Todd's voice answered back.

"Nah! Let him try to make a full sentence. It's funny," quipped Pietro.

Standing up straighter to peer over Scott's shoulder, Kurt saw them and grinned. The Brotherhood was assembled before them, all of them wearing the battle gear that Xavier had designed for them. Todd's design was black and gray, slightly mottled so that he could blend in with the shadows. He wore his goggles on the top of his head, in a manner that kept his hair out of his face – all except for a few stray pieces.

Freddy's outfit was a black lightweight shirt and pants that allowed his skin to breath – no armor to slow him down since he didn't need any. He had a utility belt like Todd's and his boots – while sturdy - gave his structure better support and comfort so he could run faster if he needed to. They would also absorb shock during any sort of rough landing.

Lance's gear was somewhat like his old one, red and black material with lightweight yet high-impact armor over his chest, back and shoulders, arms and shins. He had no helmet, but he did have a black visor that allowed him night vision and protection from any dirt or sand particles he managed to send flying with his powers.

Pietro's costume was simple and silver, made of lightweight bullet-proof material that allowed him to run through and against currents. His boots were made of the strongest material that could also allow for comfort while withstanding all the elements and temperatures on the planet. Like Todd, he had goggles – but with reflective silver lenses. They were more for eye protection than anything else, and while fashionable they were made to be sturdy and wouldn't fall apart in high-speed situations.

Wanda's was still scarlet, though made out of the same bullet-proof cloth as her brother's and she had a bit of black armor around her upper torso and shins. She had lost the long -coat and she'd had to confess she felt lighter and more agile without it.

"How did you get in here? What do you think you're doing wearing those? Did Xavier give you permission?"

Kurt tensed, but although Todd's eyes swept over him, the frog-boy shrugged. "I poked around earlier and found these. They had our names under them, so I figured they were ours."

"Yeah," Lance said darkly. "And I kinda wonder why you didn't tell us about them, since you've been the one dragging us down here every morning since we moved in."

Scott frowned. "Maybe I thought you weren't ready for them. You still haven't explained how you got in here without me. I think Professor Xavier will have some words with you if you managed to crack the code."

"One," said Todd, "If we'd managed to crack the code, I think he'd be thankin' us for exposing the weaker points in his security system. Two, we didn't have to, because Logan let us in after _his_ Danger Room session."

Scott snorted. "You're lying. How would you even manage to get him to do that?"

"Easy, yo. We said 'please and thank you'. And we also told him you'd go beserk if we were here before you even got outta bed. I think that had a bigger effect on him," Todd grinned.

Kurt had to swallow his laughter, but Tabby showed no such self-control. She fairly cackled, arm around Amara's shoulders, who was giggling a fair bit herself. Scott's withering glare was lost on them.

"And that reminds me, since our teams are uneven, the leader of the smaller team has the option of asking whether any of your teammates want to even up the score by joinin' us."

Scott snorted. "Yeah, you can ask all you want, Toad. Doesn't mean anyone _has_ to join your side."

"No, it doesn't," Todd said, rather calmly. "So, any takers?"

At first, nobody moved. Scott started to smirk, but stopped when Tabby and Amara walked over, arm in arm. Jamie ran over next and Kurt was just about to follow him when Kitty walked right past him and headed over to Lance, smiling.

Scott was definitely not smiling now, and everyone still on the X-man's team was murmuring lowly to each other as Kitty was greeted warmly by both Lance and Wanda.

"I can't believe her!" whispered Rogue, sounding infuriated. "She was goin' on and on about how much she wanted to smack Lance upside his head last night!"

"Apparently she meant a smack of love," Kurt sighed, shrugging. He wished he hadn't missed his chance to go over there, but Todd caught his eye again and smiled. Kurt reasoned it was best he was over here anyway; if the Brotherhood won, then Scott couldn't say it was only because of him and Kitty joining them. Uneasily, Kurt realized that Scott was probably going to depend on him more than ever now; Kitty had been a key point in Scott's earlier game strategy.

So much for this being fun.

"Hey, I'm gonna be in the control room if that's okay. That way the teams are even," Jubilee offered, and Kurt inwardly cursed, wishing he had thought of that.

Scott nodded his approval. "Good idea. That way the Brotherhood can't whine that they lost because we had one extra person."

Kurt's tail was beginning to flail in irritation. He forced it to wrap around his leg before he could hit anybody with it.

"Okay, today's game is laser tag. Anything goes. If you get shot three times, you're out. Got it?"

"Yeah, we got it. That's it, no more rules?" Todd asked, sounding surprised.

"I kept it simple enough for even _you _to understand, Toad," Scott clipped and Kurt's gasp was covered by Jean's own. She glowered at him fiercely before stalking off to get her gun and game supplies.

Fred had started forward, looking furious at Scott's words, but Todd put a hand on Freddy's arm. "Good to know. Thanks. May the best team win." He held out a hand for Scott to shake.

From the confused looks the other Brotherhood were giving him, Kurt guessed that this was a very unexpected reaction. Kurt himself had expected Todd to kick Scott into the ground for that remark.

His mouth a tight line, Scott shook Todd's hand and quickly retreated to get his supplies. Kurt flashed Todd a very apologetic look before following suit. He heard Scott approach Jean as he strapped on his sensor vest.

"I can't believe you said that!" she scolded him as soon as he got near. "That was completely and totally rude, not to mention uncalled for! They may have teased you, but they haven't insulted you!"

"Of course they didn't! They aren't insulting me, Jean, because they've found a passive-aggressive way to make me look like a jerk," he countered.

"Oh come _on_, Scott," Jean complained, putting a hand over her face. "The Brotherhood doesn't need to make a jerk out of you. Not when you're doing such a fine job of that yourself!" She stormed away, making Scott follow after her, still struggling to put on his vest.

"Jean, wait!"

Kurt rolled his eyes and picked up his laser gun. He just wanted to get this over with.

* * *

The game went pretty straightforward, or at least as much as possible for a room full of mutants. Jamie made multiples of himself and the sensor vests, swarming around Amara, Tabby, and Todd to protect them as they shot out Bobby and got a few hits on Sam and Rogue. He dutifully sent his Multiples away as they reached their three-shot limit, but that left plenty more where that came from.

Kitty jumped out in front of Rahne and Sam, claiming she wanted to join their side again. In the moment of confusion, she went transparent, letting Lance shoot Rahne out while Kitty got Sam. Kitty got shot out by Scott, then kissed Lance and took the shots meant for him before she ran back to 'home base', giggling and slapping a hi-five with Tabby on the way. Lance nearly got shot out in his daze, but Todd pulled him behind some cover and told him to take a sniper position.

Pietro used his super speed to some advantage, shooting out Rogue and Ray before Roberto blinded him with a flash of light. Jean shot him out and he went back to home-base, sulking but cheered by the fact that their score was higher than the X-men's.

Todd shot Roberto the third time and narrowly ducked Scott's hit. Tabby and Amara were finally tagged out, going back to home base at a sprint to watch the rest of the melee unfold.

Kurt had managed to shoot out Freddy and almost Lance, but his heart wasn't really in it. He heard his name called and ported over to Scott, who was hiding behind another boulder, out of sight. "Kurt, I want you to find where Todd's hiding and shoot him out. I think I got one on him, so you'll only have to get him twice. Got it?"

"Why? What's the point?"

"The point is that he won't ever shut up unless somebody shoots him out. Even if we lose, I'm not letting him get the best of me."

"Dude, what is your issue with Todd? He hasn't done anything," Kurt had to ask, irritated and tired.

"What's your issue with him? I thought you hated his guts. He almost cost you your girlfriend, or did you forget that?"

Kurt blinked at Scott. "He did. And then he went over and apologized, so Amanda's parents are going to give me a second chance. Did you know that?"

"Is that what he told you? I can't believe you would even fall for that. Look, go over and shoot him and I'll take you out for a burger later, okay?"

Shaking his head, Kurt ported away.

* * *

Todd heard the familiar sound and he could smell brimstone. He turned and looked at Kurt, who had been standing behind him, gun not even raised.

"So he sent you to finish it, huh?" Todd asked, tone oddly understanding.

Kurt offered a smile. "Nein. I sent myself." He dropped the gun and raised his arms.

Todd didn't move at first, looking at him. "You sure, dawg?"

"I'm very sure." Kurt was grinning and three shots later, his sensor vest went off. He took it off and tossed it over the rock Todd was hiding behind. Scott gave out a loud whoop, mistaking who the vest belonged to.

"Get ready," Kurt whispered, kneeling next to a very bemused Todd and wrapping an arm around him. In the next instant, they were behind Scott and Todd's aim was true.

Wanda soon afterwards took out Jean, leaving the victory to the Brotherhood.

Scott stared at both Kurt and Todd in complete shock for a few moments. Then he got up calmly, threw his vest down and stalked out into the open. The other Brotherhood members who'd been shot out ran back into the middle, cheering and generally raising a ruckus. The rest of the X-men followed behind, though none of them were as sullen or angry looking as Scott. Exchanging troubled glances, Todd and Kurt rejoined their teammates.

"Don't even think for a minute that this counts for any sort of win," Scott said, once the noise had died down a little.

"What?" Pietro asked. Freddy dropped Lance, who he'd been trying to give a noogie to, much to the latter's relief. Todd was the only one who didn't look all that surprised, but it was Wanda who spoke up next.

"What do you mean it doesn't count? We were the last ones standing, so we won, like it or not."

"No, you didn't. Because you cheated. All of you."

"What?" Pietro squawked, louder this time. "What rules did we break? You said anything goes!"

"You broke the rules about getting shot three times and you're out! Jamie was shot about seventy-nine times before he finally went out, and that's cheating!"

"No, Jamie was about twenty people, so three times for each. You clearly said each of us!" Lance argued.

"And _you!_ You were using Kitty as a shield! Is that what you're going to do in battle? Use your girlfriend's body as a shield against bullets, Alvers?"

Lance paled, the remark cruelly below the belt. "Now you just wait a damn minute," he growled, the ground starting to shake a little. "I would _never_-"

"What the hell, this is just a game!" Wanda shouted in consternation. "It doesn't mean we'd use these tactics in real life!"

"But you already have! You cheat, you lie, you steal," Scott ranted, glaring at Todd, "You hurt others to gain what you want! You've always done that, and you always will! You might have pulled the wool over everyone else's eyes, but I see you for the liars and cheats you'll always be. You don't deserve to be here, and you don't deserve to wear those uniforms!"

The rest of the Brotherhood just stared at him, all the wind crushed out of their sails. It was more than Todd could bear. He stepped forward at the same time as Pietro did, holding out a hand to stop Quicksilver. The speed-demon looked at him curiously but stayed put, wordlessly giving Todd the floor.

"How about another match, then, Summers? No fancy lights, no guns, nothing to hide behind. No rules. Just you and me in a sparring match, right here, right now."

"Aw shit, you should've let me go ahead, Tolensky," Pietro muttered, worried his friend was going to get creamed.

"No rules?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, one rule. Whoever knocks the other one flat on their ass wins. After that, no whining that someone cheated, a'ight?"

"Right." Scott took up a stance, obviously ready to go.

Todd settled into a more relaxed one. If there was anything he was good at, it was dodging blows. Scott took a swing at him, favoring his left and Todd ducked, sweeping his leg into Scott's ankles. He half-stumbled and tried kicking Todd in the stomach, only for Todd to roll away and kick him behind the knee. Scott went down, but not before slamming a foot into Todd's chest. They hit the ground and got up simultaneously, circling each other.

Scott attacked again, swinging punches and kicks. This time, Todd couldn't find any openings to attack, so he focused on dodging. He ducked, cart wheeled, flipped and rolled, all the while grinning cheekily. It was starting to make Scott recklessly angry and when Todd flipped over him yet again, he touched his visor and shot the frog-boy down. The new battle-suit Todd was wearing took off the edge, but he fell hard and scrambled to get up, chest dully aching. "Oh, so you wanna play hardball now, huh?"

Scott didn't answer, attacking again and this time, Todd back flipped into a handstand, kicking Scott under the chin and sending his visor flying. Summers fell down, rubbing his aching face, but quickly got back up, eyes closed tightly. Todd knew this was his best chance, but he also know if he didn't give the dumb visor back, Scott would probably claim he cheated at this too.

He sighed and held out his hand to Rahne, who'd snatched the visor off the floor to keep it from being stepped on. Wide-eyed, she gave it to Todd and he handed it to Scott. "Here," he muttered. "Take 'em back."

Instead of taking the visor, Scott gripped his wrist and punched Todd hard. Dazed and tasting blood, Todd kicked Scott away from him and got back to his feet, wiping his bleeding mouth and watching warily for the next attack.

The punch had gotten quite a bit of reaction, some people were actually booing the cheap shot or in Jean's case, yelling in outrage. It made the noise echo through the Danger Room chaotically, which worked to Todd's advantage. The visor had been flung away again thanks to his actions and now Scott couldn't depend on his hearing to find Todd.

He threw another punch and nearly bit his tongue when a hard blow caught him under the ribs. Scott turned to the source and swung his fist again and again with the same result, Todd kept getting blows in that stung more than caused injury. Scott knew that Todd was toying with him, trying to get him to make a stupid mistake before he flattened Scott and won the match. Panicking and refusing to let himself be made a fool of, Scott listened hard for footsteps approaching him. He heard a tentative step, as though someone was trying to get closer very stealthily and it was all he needed.

This time his fist hit flesh and he heard a satisfying crack of cartilage accompanied by a pained squeak. Got him! He raised his fist again to deliver another blow.

Instead of cheers however, Scott was met with a barrage of horrified shrieks and then hands slapping at him– not in congratulations, but in anger. He winced, some of those slaps were _hard_. His visor was then thrust unceremoniously on his face by a very angry telepath – it was a wonder she didn't stab him in the eye with it.

When he saw what had happened, his heart dropped to the bottom of his shoes.

Jamie was lying on his back, hiccoughing and trying obviously not to cry while Amara was trying her best to clean the blood off his face.

"I – I don't think it's broken," she was trying to comfort him, sounding panicky herself. "We'll have Hank look at it. You'll be fine, okay?"

"Holy-shit-he-just-punched-out-the-kid!" Pietro squeaked, ever so helpfully. Scott could only stare, rooted to the spot with utter horror. He was dimly aware that every single girl in the room was looking at him as though he'd just drowned a basketful of kittens.

"I . . . I didn't know, I'm sorry . . ." He muttered, though it seemed like nobody could hear him. Jamie was really making a valiant effort not to burst out crying.

It was for this reason that Todd approached the younger boy, looking somewhat guilty himself. He remembered his own humiliation of breaking down, though at least he'd had the advantage of being alone when it happened. Poor Jamie was in a room full of people, which only made it harder. Inspiration struck upon noticing something, and he knelt down next to Jamie, suddenly grinning.

"Hey, you won our bet, yo."

"Eh – snff – bet?" Jamie asked thickly. He took an ice pack that Tabby had brought over from the first aid kit and held it gingerly against his nose.

"Yeah. You know, the one where I gotta buy you ice cream if you win. Well, you just took a hit to the face and _I_ don't see any Multiples runnin' around, do you?"

Jamie blinked and turned his head slightly to the left and then to the right. "I . . . don't." His eyes widened with this new information, successfully distracted from tearing up.

"Hey, way to go man!" Sam cheered, cottoning on fairly quick.

"Yeah, I knew you could do it!" Rahne joined in. Jamie grinned as his teammates praised him for his control. Roberto helped him to his feet, Todd taking the other side as they walked out of the Danger Room. Not even looking back at Scott, the Brotherhood and remaining X-men trailed after, talk of a possible excursion for ice cream bouncing back and forth between them.

Only Jean remained with Scott and she looked at him for a long time before shaking her head. "Professor Xavier wants to talk to you, Scott," she informed him quietly, breaking the silence between them. She walked out then, leaving him alone.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I actually divided this chapter in half, it was friggin' huge. There will be cuteness ahead, and also some ominous behavior. I apologize for taking so long. We were forced to move out of our house, followed by wife's two eye surgeries, (the first one failed to reattach the retina) and our computer had a melt down virus-thingie. With all that, I just couldn't get in the writing mood other than drabbles or short one-shots. So I outlined the giant chapter instead. What's here is what I finished fleshing out, the rest is still in outline format. I will try to get the next out sooner, thanks for your patience and understanding as life continues to chuck lemons toward our clunky, outdated yet still efficient (and sexy) lemonade machine.


	11. Chapter 11

Jamie had quickly warmed to being the man of the hour, not to mention the girls fussing over him endlessly. It was very rare that he got this sort of attention, but he was wise enough not to milk it for all it was worth. Especially since Hank had just told him that his nose was, in fact, not broken. Shaking off an injury was more impressive than whining about it endlessly anyway, even if it did sometimes get girls to coo at you and stroke your hair back with their fingers.

He was very grateful that he hadn't cried though. Being twelve years old and crying got you the wrong kind of sympathy from girls. Although, Kitty had been particularly kind to him after the Danger Room incident, and it had floated him up to Cloud 9 for the better part of an hour.

Jamie sighed, making his way down the hall toward the front lobby. Everyone was talking about heading down to The Parlor, an old-fashioned ice cream and malt shop downtown. Especially since Jean and Ororo had informed everyone that the Professor wished the desserts there to be his treat. It was certainly nice of the Professor to do that, Jamie thought. He felt guilty about his prior beliefs about the Brotherhood, that they were all no-good like Scott had been saying.

But first he'd befriended Todd, who wasn't even half as bad as he'd been told, and then Todd had approached him late last night asking if he'd want to join the Brotherhood team tomorrow. It had floored Jamie, who was so used to being the last one picked for anything. He'd gleefully accepted and then agreed to tell Amara that the same offer applied to her. She had obviously told Tabby, who wasted no time telling Kitty.

And thus a great Conspiracy had been put in motion, and Jamie had been more than thrilled to be a part of it. Of course, Scott had thrown a conniption fit when it all came into play, but that had been pretty fun to watch too.

The only thing he hadn't enjoyed, other than being punched, was the thought that Scott was in trouble now. Deep trouble, probably. Jamie had been in trouble enough times to know the horrible squirming feeling in one's gut. He wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone, not even if they'd punched him in the face _twice._

He frowned as he walked down the staircase, nearly bumping into someone on the way. He looked up into Wanda's face, who looked just as surprised. "Sorry, lost in thoughts," she murmured, stepping aside. She looked at him then. "You haven't seen Todd anywhere, have you? Every time I think I've spotted him, he disappears."

"Um . . . no, I haven't seen him. Are you his girlfriend?" Jamie blurted out without thinking. As far as he was concerned, Todd had an enviable talent for getting any girl to like him.

Wanda made an odd noise, somewhere between a cough and a snigger. "No. But I'm his friend. Teammate, even. So have you seen him? I wanted to talk to him last night, but he sort of made Pietro explain everything to me instead and then vanished. I could almost swear he's avoiding me."

Jamie blinked. "Why would he avoid you?"

Her expression changed from mildly amused to sad. "For reasons best left unsaid." Seeing Jamie's confusion, she clarified. "I don't want to get into it. Let's just say I said something I shouldn't have."

"You hurt his feelings?"

Wanda looked at him a moment, then nodded.

"Oh. Well, he said he wasn't that good with girls. Which I think is a lie because he got Amara to smile at him and she'd been crying FOREVER." Jamie rolled his eyes to emphasize this fact.

This earned a small smile from Wanda. "Well, if you see him . . . tell him I . . ." She faltered and was then interrupted by someone calling her name. "Coming Kitty!" Not bothering to finish her curious message, she appeared to forget she was even talking to Jamie and hurriedly made her way upstairs.

Jamie sighed and shrugged, starting to walk down the stairs again.

* * *

If Jamie was unused to attention, then Todd was about ready to pack up his things and move back to a saner universe where he was generally scorned and ignored at best. He had scarcely made his way across the lobby of the Mansion after changing back into jeans and a t-shirt without being congratulated by someone. Even Rogue seemed okay with the fact that he'd just landed their leader in deep crap.

Pietro and Lance were fairly ecstatic about it, but Todd had been too guilty to really join in with the laughter. Not that he felt bad Scott was in trouble – the jerk deserved it. It was more that he couldn't help feeling like he'd let Jamie take a hit for him. That punch had been meant for _his_ face, not for Jamie's.

Lance at least had seemed to know what was bothering him, and had put an arm around Todd's shoulders as they walked up to the main level. "He'll be fine. Don't worry so much. I bet you his nose isn't even crooked after this."

Todd had made a despairing noise, but Lance mussed up his hair, not having any of it. "Like I said, quit worrying. Enjoy this, you rocked it out there."

He moved on ahead to join Pietro and Freddy, leaving Todd to trail behind. And then to get cornered by Wanda.

"Eeep," Todd greeted, every muscle in his body tensing for flight.

"Hey, Todd. I know you've been avoiding me. And I know why," Wanda said earnestly.

"Heh. Let's not beat around the bush or anything, yo." Todd joked weakly.

"I had no right to say any of those things. I was angry and hurt and I wanted to lash out at someone. I was trying to make you to feel how badly _I_ hurt, being abandoned so easily by Father. After everything he did for us. I thought we were a family again."

Todd had opened his mouth, but any retort he had died on his lips at that last sentence. Guilt crashed ashore and made him pale slightly. No matter what she had said to him, they were even, because he had let her believe this bullcrap about her father to keep her close. Hadn't he?

Who was he to trap her like this and then turn his back on her?

"Fathers . . . ain't always what they look like on the outside," Todd said quietly. "They can lie too, babe. They can hurt you just as good if not worse than anyone else can, even if they don't leave scars on the outside. Trust me, I know."

Wanda's eyes were wet and she bit her lip, nodding. For a moment, she stared into the distance and willed the tears back. Todd had to admire her strength. She leaned down suddenly, capturing his lips in a soft kiss.

When she pulled away, his breath caught in his throat but he was surprised to find that he wasn't filled with the waves of rapture he always dreamed he would be. Wanda had kissed him. _She_ had kissed _him _and he felt . . . the same as always. Maybe he was in too much shock to really wrap his mind around it yet.

Any moment now he'd be jumping twenty feet in the air and swinging from the chandelier, or doing cartwheels around the room, or maybe a little Irish jig or something.

Nope. Nothing. The hell?

"You did really amazing today," Wanda said offhandedly, trying to act now as if it hadn't happened. "I liked your moves. Wish you'd punched him a little more, but a girl can't have everything," she shrugged, one shouldered. An act that Todd would have found utterly adorable on any occasion . . . save this one.

"See you at that ice-cream place?"

"Yeah, sure," Todd said, sounding dazed. "I guess." He stared after Wanda as she walked away and suddenly Pietro was in his immediate vision.

"You're not breathing. Yes she's my sister and gorgeous like me and she kissed you, I know. Just BREATHE, okay? BREATHE!"

"GAH!" Todd squirmed away, batting at him. "I was breathing just fine, yo! Until _you_ started breathing in my face!"

"Guys, chill out. Pietro, let Todd enjoy the moment, okay?" Lance winked at him and thankfully pushed Pietro toward the opposite end of the lobby.

"Um, hey," a voice behind him spoke. Todd turned and saw Fuzzy standing there, looking vaguely embarrassed.

"Yo, what's up? Thanks for . . . you know. Back there," Todd managed, feeling like an idiot as soon as he opened his mouth. "It was cool," he added lamely.

"Well, it needed to be done. Scott was really getting on my nerves. I actually wished I could've been on your side. Seemed like more fun."

"Eh, maybe next time. Don't see why we've got to be all Brotherhood against X-men if we live here now, y'know? Mixed teams could be fun," Todd said, mostly babbling.

"That's a good idea," Kurt offered, grinning. "Ah, anyway, listen . . . I think I need to sit this trip out. I'd be attracting unwelcome stares."

"Say what?" Todd looked at him in confusion. "Ain't no reason for that, you can come with us. Don't you got your induc-"

He stopped suddenly, realizing something painful. Todd looked down at the spots on his arms and the slightly greenish tint to his skin. There were plenty on his face as well. Todd rallied admirably. "Guess I'll be sittin pretty back here too. Ain't no problem. There's a couple pints in the freezer. We can play games after or somethin'."

Kurt just smiled at him and turned over Todd's hand, putting something in the frog-boy's palm. Todd stared down curiously and his eyes widened as he saw Kurt's inducer there. "Say _what?_" he yelped, startled.

"This is _your_ party, Todd. You shouldn't have to miss it."

Todd blinked at him, not sure what to say. His throat felt tight, like he suddenly didn't know how to swallow.

"Breathe," Kurt admonished gently, smiling.

Doing so, and then sheepishly chuckling, Todd put on the inducer. Kurt had saved the last image he'd made of himself, all the little subtle differences that would make Todd feel as though he were handsome. "I'll . . . I'll give it back. I promise."

"I'm not worried about that," the elf grinned. "I _do_ know where you live."

Todd laughed outright at that. It earned him some stares, mostly because he was standing next to Kurt and looking happy. The two of them weren't exactly known for being on friendly terms.

"Thanks, yo. Seriously, dawg. _Thank_ you," Todd said, more quietly. He turned to join his friends, pausing to smile at Kurt over his shoulder and then moving on. Lance was already heading out to the Jeep, keys in one hand and Kitty holding the other.

"So then, is breakfast ice cream, or will ice cream be served with breakfast?" Freddy wanted to know.

"Well, it goes well on waffles. Me, I want mocha ice cream, with chocolate covered expresso beans."

"No," Wanda, Lance, Kitty and Fred intoned all at once.

"Awww, but why _not_?"

"Why do you think, birdbrain? You'll die from cardiac arrest. That is, _after_ you give wedgies to everyone in downtown Bayville, including the Mayor and half the police force!"

"I only speed-wedgied _one_ person, and that was only _one_ time."

"Yeah, and Mystique had to pay for the guy's hospital bills, not to mention his silence!"

Pietro argued the finer points of this as Todd got into the Jeep, sitting beside Wanda. It was a rather tight fit, but instead of feeling elated, Todd found himself wishing Lance would just stop arguing and drive. Or that Pietro would run ahead and give them all more space back here.

Wanda looked at him again, offered a shy smile, then looked away. Todd didn't know how he felt about that even. Confused and slightly heartsick, he looked back toward the Institute and saw Kurt watching from the window. Todd waved as they drove away, wondering if he shouldn't have just stayed there after all.

Kurt waved back and wandered off into the empty Institute, looking for something to occupy his time with.

* * *

"Come in," Xavier said calmly.

He could feel Scott's anxiety as thick as fog and he sighed, knowing the young man hated being wrong about anything. But this was necessary and frankly, overdue. There was a point in which believing you were right became more of an unhealthy obsession than anything else.

Scott obviously felt threatened by the Brotherhood's arrival, and Xavier should have done something about that much sooner than this. He had been hoping Scott would come to the humbling realization that he was in the wrong before something like this happened.

His first student sat down where Charles indicated and waited, shoulders tense, for the lecture that was to follow.

Charles merely sat back and waited. After a short silence, he asked, "What are you thinking, Scott?"

The young man grimaced. "That I should never have let my anger get the better of me," he offered. "I could have really hurt Jamie."

"Hmm. But if your fist had connected with its intended target . . .?"

Scott raised his head, disbelief etched across his face. "He stepped aside to let me hit Jamie, then pretended to be his friend afterwards! I'm not saying it was his fault Jamie got hit – that was completely mine, but you have to admit that was cowardly."

Xavier frowned. "No, Scott. Saying that Todd meant for Jamie to be hit is just as unfair as saying that you meant to hit Jamie yourself. I think you have become blinded by your anger at their intrusion into your life. You've had to fight them in countless battles, and now 'the enemy' is here, living in your home. The one place that you've always known as safe."

"Professor, I understand they needed help, but why couldn't you have just rebuilt their boarding house and sent them money for food? Maybe give them a security system, I don't know. I think all of us would have been happier if we hadn't been forced together like this."

Xavier raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps I have been wrong. You are angry at me for this decision and you've been lashing out at them because you don't want to confront me about it."

"No . . . well . . . maybe a little," he admitted, looking down.

"Have you been hoping they'd leave, despite having nowhere else to go?"

"No!" Scott said, a bit louder than he meant to. "No, I don't want them to get dumped out in the cold again . . . I just don't want them _here_. They're disorderly and rude and troublemakers, and if they cause trouble now, the police will come here! Doesn't that concern _you?_"

"Of course it does. But they no longer have any reason to cause trouble. Magneto has turned his back on both his children, and I'm sure without his guiding hand, Pietro and Wanda will find something more worthy to spend their time and devotion on. Lance made a fine X-man while he was here, you remember full well how your accusations drove him away. Fred has only ever wanted someone to accept him, as does Todd. If they can make friends here, strong ties, then they will have something better than what they had before.

"There's no reason for stealing anymore. Old habits may die hard, but they were strongest in Todd. He has been living on the street for quite some time – having run away after his mother's death. Stealing was literally his daily bread. Since he's been here, there have been matters more pressing than eating. One of the things I'll need to talk to him about actually. He sneaks food like a bandit, and not very much of it at that."

"So he is stealing," Scott frowned.

"No. He is surviving. He takes just enough to survive and hides away to eat it, as though it will be stolen. In fact, I don't think I've seen him sit down at a table to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. Not once since the Brotherhood has moved here. Do you know why that might be?"

"Because, like you said, he's used to stealing his food to survive."

"Scott, should he be surviving here, or living here? Should he feel as though he has to steal food in order to eat? Or should he feel as though he is among friends, who he can share his mealtimes with?"

Scott was silent then lowered his head, thinking.

"I'm going to play a conversation for you that our cameras recorded yesterday. Hopefully it will give you some insight as to how the Brotherhood truly feels about you. There are no insults, just a frank couple of statements that you should pay attention to."

Xavier put a small device on his desk and pressed the play button. Todd's voice came out of it and Scott frowned automatically, though he paid close attention.

_"Threatened! By what? We're here on your charity, we can't go home. We never really had a home to begin with - even before it got overrun by bills and foreclosure threats 'cause that bimbo Mystique kept leaving us dry! Sorry, no offense . . ." _

_"None taken. I don't care anymore."_

The second voice was Kurt's, though that wasn't really a surprise to Scott now. He felt like such an idiot for trusting Kurt to shoot out Todd. But then why hadn't Kurt joined the Brotherhood's team today? Scott shook his head slightly and listened. Todd was speaking again – more like ranting.

_"Anyway, it was barely a home and we can't even have that anymore. We're here and we're still kinda reeling from it, Pietro and Wanda especially. Magneto is their father and he just . . . poof, he's gone! The rest of us are used to that sorta crap, but not them . . . and Scott's all asserting himself over us - hardcore, yo. He's tryin' to break us into this place and this routine, meanwhile we're already broken! We might not act like anything's wrong, but trust me - you just look at Lance's face when he thinks nobody's looking and you can see lines in it. He's eighteen and he's had to take care of us for so long - suddenly losing that responsibility is a relief, but it's kinda painful too, you know?_

Scott frowned. He hadn't noticed that, about Alvers. About how bereft Lance was. He really had been too busy enforcing that he was in charge now . . .

_"It's like he gets no acknowledgment that he's been holding all of our heads above the water this whole time - instead, he gets to watch Scott strutting around the mansion and passing judgments on him and on us like we had this coming 'cause we're such horrible people for not being able to make it on the 'bad guy' payroll. And Lance can't say anything about it because he's not in charge of us anymore! Summers is, and he's not giving us any time to adjust to the changes or the new people or anything. He's just pummeling us over and over with his 'I'm a great person and you aren't, so I'm gonna teach you about morality' crap! And the fact that the adults aren't even sayin' anything 'bout all this makes me wonder if they even notice!"_

Scott tried to rouse a tiny bit of indignation at Todd's words, but found that he couldn't. He found that he was instead thoroughly deflated and refilling slowly with shame instead of pride. Had he really been so blind? The Brotherhood boys had seemed so full of themselves, so cocksure and mocking that Scott had failed to see how vulnerable they really were. He'd taken what he'd seen as immature posturing, and in his mind had turned it into a threat rather than a sign that they needed a friend more than an authority figure breathing down their necks.

Scott felt utterly ashamed of himself and he had no idea that Xavier had turned off the recording two whole minutes ago.

"So, what are your thoughts now, Scott?" the telepath prompted gently.

"I . . . I've been awful. They didn't deserve that. I was more of a threat to them than they were a threat to me . . . this was supposed to be _their_ safe place."

Xavier nodded, looking both proud and immensely relieved. "We all let our prior experiences and judgments get the best of us Scott. The road ahead to gaining their respect will be harder, but you should try anyway. Even if it means giving them some space for a while, after any apologies you decide to make."

Humbled, Scott nodded. "I wish I'd realized this a lot sooner."

"That is my fault also, Scott. However, I wish you to remember that you have enough compassion in you to have come to the realization at all."

"Thanks, Professor," Scott offered a wan smile, before getting up and quietly leaving the room. He had a lot to think about.

* * *

The figure walked along the rickety old porch. Boards long since past rotten creaked beneath his feet. It almost sounded like the place was moaning. The figure paused at an old bench-swing. It had once been painted white to match the house, but the paint was peeling off. Among other names carved into the wood, a heart shape was crudely etched, with the initials T & W in the middle. It looked as though it had then been blasted with some sort of flame, since most of the white paint was peeled, blackened, and bubbled around this particular area.

The figure touched the center of the heart and pushed, sending the porch swing in motion, chains whispering softly. There was a radio pulled out of a coat pocket, and the soft click of a button. "It's clear tonight. Everything's dried out since the last rain. Tonight, then?"

In a burst of static, the figure had its answer:

_Tonight._

TBC

A/N: So apparently, I just said to heck with it and finished up the other half of the huge long chapter. It's a couple pages shorter than the last, but eh. This is literally the fastest chapter I've ever gotten out! And now suspension builds! Mwahahah!


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